Componydum
by Darkryt Orbinautz
Summary: As various little problems disturb the lives of Twilight's friends and family, it gets to the point where there is clearly a greater force at work. One that has been with them face their whole lives. Who spent the last few centuries taking steps to see they would never know the depth of her manipulation. One who wants them to stay by her side, no matter what she's done. FINISHED.
1. Preview

**Disclaimer: My Little Pony is the properties of Hasbro. This is a non-profit work made by an independent contractor outside of the official company's notice intended for non-profit entertainment and speculative purposes only.**

**By Darkryt Orbinautz:**

**Componydum...Preview.**

* * *

Twilight whined.

Twilight whined, her body pressed against the stone slab of the underground cellar.

The name...her fri...fr...oh, she couldn't even remember the word now!

Hmph! Celestia and Cadence may be able to make her forget her fri-...but they would never make her forget her, no matter what she had to do to ensure such. Even with her fri- fading fast, Twilight still remember her. Remembered how she would have Sp- what was his name? Spick? Something like that. Have Spick check her over and over once they had come out of the bedroom so they could be sure the 'Want-It-Need-It' they had used for play was properly disenchanted.

She remembered the weeks she spent obsessing over her, before the week they had spent together to start their new chapters of life with each other. She could still remember how much time she spent wasted, trying to understand the mysteries of her body.

Particular how they achieved 'the ultimate harmony' with each other, allowing Twilight the clearest glimpse of the mystery that could ever be gotten, and then she kinda...stopped caring about it.

Rising her leg up, Twilight used her horn to cut it wide open, deep and thick enough for her blood to spill out around her.

Drenching her hoof in her own blood, Twilight began writing a word on the wall. One word. The word. The only word that mattered. The word that without, nothing had any meaning at all.

The name...the name only those closest to her were allowed to know.

_Diane _was drawn into the wall in large letters.

Twilight pressed her face up against the wall, having the unfortunate side effect of getting the fresh blood on her nose, but it was more so she could read the name over and over again to make sure she didn't forget it.

A groaning creak came from above, heralding the arrival of her captors.

"Hey, Twilight! You feeling better?" Cadence greeted happily enough.

"I'm good, but could you come a little closer so I could rip your wings off with your own severed horn?"

Cadecne frowned and signed. "Not even going to _try_ to be civil, are you?"

"Nuh-uh. Not in a million, billion super-duper extra long light-years."

"Light-years are different from normal years-"

"I know, I know. Think about who you're talking to , Princess Mi Amora Cadenza."

Cadence was displeased at the use of her full name. "Don't call me that."

"Let me out."

"No."

"Then I guess we're going to have to agree to disagree."

Cadence shook her head. "Why are you are being so difficult?"

"Why are you trying to erase my memory?"

"You know why!"

"Actually, if you erased my memory, I won't know why, BECAUSE I'LL HAVE FORGOTTEN."

"Uuugh!" Cadence grunted in protest. "If you would've just cooperated with Celestia..."

"Celestia? Celestia who? Celestia, the kind, caring wise ruler of Equestria who's been my mentor, or Celestia the manipulative, self-serving god-spawn who's been directing my entire life!? OH WAIT! They're the same pony! Silly me."

Twilight glared. Cadence just looked at her softly.

"I mean it! Get out of my sight, or I'll come over there and run you through with your own horn!"

"Two exclamation marks? That's...grammatically inaccurate, Twilight."

"Your face is grammatically inaccurate!"

"That sentence doesn't even- you're doing this on purpose, aren't you?"

Twilight stuck her tongue. "Go steal some other poor mother's foal, would you? I could use the company."

Cadence was aghast at the sight against her, then noticed the blood on the wall. "What the-!? Who's Diane?"

"That pony your stupid husband kept trying to keep me from marrying."

"Twilight! He's your brother!"

"Oh? Gee, I wish I could REMEMBER that!"

Cadence signed again, muttering Twilight's name. "Twilight, come on..."

"I'll kill myself before I let either of you use me again!"

Cadence rolled her eyes.

"Didn't Lucky Swirl try that already?"

"Yeah...I guess she did."

Cadence giggled. "Well, I'll be leaving now. Have fun thinking about...mmmhhuummm..._Diane_!"

At Cadence's usage of Twilight's nickname for her spouse, Twilight became enraged.

"**NO PONY GETS TO CALL HER THAT BUT ME!_"_**

The chain holding to the wall was unbreakable...so naturally, Twilight's fury allowed to pull free_ of the wall_, yanking out the part of it the chain was attached to.

Bounding forward, Twilight pinned Cadence down and began pounding her in the face with her hoof. She stopped when she heard an exasperated sign, and looked up to see Celestia approaching.

"Well, my most faithful student..." Celestia's referral made it clear she refused to accept Twilight's resignation. "Here you are in a cell with me and my niece, trying to beat her to death for borrowing a nickname."

"NOPONY gets to call her that but me!" Twilight repeated.

"I've been wondering, lately, Twilight..." Celestia continued on, unmoved. "In your own words, I would like to hear the answer to the question...

Of how we got here."

* * *

**Author's Notes for "Componydum Preview"**

**Before asking any questions, bare in mind this is a preview. It's supposed to raise questions.**

**And yes, this is 'Componydium' despite the lack of an 'I'. I changed the name because I realized I kept pronouncing it differently from how I spelt it- whenever I spoke the title, I said 'Com-pony-dumb' instead of 'Com-pony-di-um.'  
**


	2. Return To Harmony

**Disclaimer: My Little Pony is the properties of Hasbro. This is a non-profit work made by an independent contractor outside of the official company's notice intended for non-profit entertainment and speculative purposes only.**

**Darkryt Orbinautz presents...**

* * *

The wonderful world of Equestria, where ponies lived in peace and harmony that was rarely threatened, guided under the wise and just leadership of Princess Celestia and her recently returned sister, Princess Luna.

Ponies were happy. Even with the change that had happened wherein they had to accept the Changeling species- strict laws were in place, and the Changeling Queen had the Changeling's complete and total loyalty. As long as Celestia had Chrysalis' favor, there was nothing to worry about. Certainly nothing for Celestia's student Twilight Sparkle to worry about either, going to live the rest of her days in Ponyville, away from her family, and even having started her own through magical methods most ponies rather remain a secret.

And everything they thought all knew was about to be rocked from the upside-out.

* * *

**Componydum**

**Chapter I**

**Return To Harmony**

**Episode Synopsis: Twilight Sparkle discovers the magic of friendship.**

* * *

In Canterlot...

"What about this one?" The pink Princess asked, holding up a dress.

There was a family of three, thought it wasn't the typical mother-father-child set-up.

"I like the green one better." Her unicorn charge said.

"I like your black one." Another unicorn said.

The Princess chuckled.

"Oh, Shining! You know I can't wear that to the ball. It's far too naughty." Princess Mi Amora Cadenza chided her lover. "You know what, Twilight? You're right. I'll go with the green one."

Using her magic, the pink pony dressed herself in a dress made of green fabric.

"Now, Twilight, remember what the rule is for going?" Cadenza asked as Shining stepped out in a tuxedo with a lilac dress for his sister held in hoof.

"No making friends." Were once again, the words of Twilight Sparkle's mouth.

This was the way it was. Always, since Twilight Velvet, Twilight Sparkle's mother, had surrendered her daughter to Cadenza. Why was a mystery. Perhaps Velvet felt Cadenza could take of her better. Perhaps Velvet wanted ro reunite Sparkle with her brother, Shining Armor after he had moved to be close with his beloved.

The two ponies would sometimes let Twilight go out with them, -like to the ball they were all going to tonight- sometimes, but always...always...always there was one rule that superceded any and everything else.

No making friends.

Twilight Sparkle didn't need friends. At least, that's Cadenza and Shining Armor always told her. She didn't friends because she had them.

That's what they told her, at least.

Arriving at the precipce of 'early' and 'late' that resulted in 'fasionably late', Cadenza and her two escorts made their presence at the ball known simply by walking in; after all, no snubbed Cadenza and got away with it. The building was stylish and a good place to host a ball.

"Twiley, why don't you get some punch while Cadence and I exchange pleasantries?" Shining suggested.

Twilight nodded and silently made her way over to the punch bowl, increasingly made aware of the dress Shining had chosen for the leers she got from the stallions around- and maybe one or two mares here and there.

She was quite pleased when she reached the punch bowl, because it meant she could quit walking where ponies could see her.

"Honestly, that is the third time this week-"

"Yeah, yeah, whatev, boss-mare."

Oh no...two ponies were coming Twilight's way! Not...good.

"What in blazes were you thinking, doing that!? Do you know-"

"Do I care?"

Twilight shrunk and tried to blend herself into the table where the punch was. Unfortunately, her scant clothing only served to make her stand out more, furling up over herself and exposing more of her body as she pushed it against the table.

"Hey!" The voice of one of the ponies from earlier greeted. She sounded very lack-a-dasiy, with a Princess-may-care attitude. "Haven't you seen before. What's your story?"

"I'm..." Twilight dared to look up to see who was greeting her- and couldn't believe it. "Oh my gosh you're- you-re- Fluttershy!"

A very lax-looking pale yellow pegaus was in front of her, resting her wither on the table, with a big pink mane and causual smile on her face. She was wearing a leather jacket. Not exactly ball attire.

"What about it?" Fluttershy questioned, darting an eyebrow.

"You're famous!" Twilight exclaimed. "No pony has ever turned down an invitation from the Wonderbolts-"

"Except me." Fluttershy finished.

"Except you." Twilight said.

Fluttershy chuckled. "Well, you know who I am. You are?"

Twilight turned her head away. "Not anypony who deserves to be talking to a pony like you..."

Fluttershy seemed off-put by Twilight's attitude. "Hey, why so down on yourself? So far, I like talking to you."

"Well...you're special! I'm...I'm not."

Fluttershy blew air from her muzzle. "That's hooey." The pegasus took to the air and approached Twilight closer. "Let's get one thing clear, kiddo." Fluttershy jabbed Twilight in the chest to make her point clear. "_Everypony_'s special, no exceptions. You just need to find yourself something to show you're special, got it?"

Twilight didn't have it, actually. This was all contrary to everything Shining and Cadenza had ever told her. "Uh, no, no I don't."

Fluttershy seemed disappointed. "Well, we'll just have to fix that, then."

"Fluttershy!" A very annoyed voice shrieked at them. A blue pegasus with a rainbow-colored mane came trotting into view, displeased with her earpiece askew and her brown jacket creasing. "There you are!"

"A-yup." Fluttershy agreed, hovering over the punch and swirling the ladle inside. "Here I am."

"You always do this!" The blue mare accused. "I try to explain that to you why no pony reacts well to your pranks, and you just- disappear!"

Fluttershy seemed really disintrested in what the other pony had to say. "Do you have something important to tell me, Rainbow Dash?"

Rainbow Dash let out a groan of frustration, then noticed Twilight and offered a hoof. "Oh. Hello. I didn't see you there. Rainbow Dash, I'm Fluttershy's 'handler', but really, the job's more like a tamer. I hope she's not being any trouble to you?"

"Oh- no, no, no trouble at all!" Twilight stutted. "To be honest, I'm flattered she's talking to me at all...I'm nopony special..."

Dash raised an eyebrow at Twilight. "Hmmm..." She put her hoof on the earpiece. "Yeah, It's Dash. I need a doll. Get me Rarity on the line. Not right now, but I want you to come over and help with this unicorn I met..." Dash hung up and gave Twilight a glance, then rounded back on Fluttershy. "You! Get down here!"

"Okay, okay. Hold your ponies, Dash." Fluttershy flitted back to the floor and turned to Twilight. "Don't drink the punch. It's awful." She winked at her and gave a snicker, showing fangs in her mouth.

"Fluuuttteeerrshhhy!" Dash growled, having already departed.

"Oop, gotta go! Cute dress, by the way." Fluttershy zoomed off in a zip-line, leaving Twilight alone, wondering what she meant about the punch, and trying to make her dress less scandulous.

"Twiley!" Shining called, coming up behind her with Cadenza in tow. "Enjoying the punch?"

"Well, um...Fluttershy came over and told me it was awful." Twilight explained.

Cadenza and Shining scoffed and laughed.

"Fluttershy-!? Ooh, our little Twiley sure has an imagination, doesn't she?"

"That she does, that she does...pour me a cup, would you?"

Shining scooped some of the liquid into a glass cup and presented to his darling, who took it and sipped it, only to spit it back out.

"Twilight! Did you spike the punch!?"

"Wha- no!"

"Twiley..." Shining said. "You're the only one who's been at this punch bowl for the last couple of mintues. Who else could've done it?"

Twilight quivered her lip, having no idea how to convince her owners she wasn't responsible. "I don-"

_"A-yup." Fluttershy agreed, hovering over the punch and swirling the ladle inside. "Here I am."_

"Fluttershy!"

"What?"

"Fluttershy spiked the punch! I saw her swirling the ladle!"

Cadenza didn't buy it, and Shining didn't seem much more convinced either.

"Shining, go find Fluttershy and ask her about this, will you?" Shining nodded like the obedient soldier he was and went off. Cadenze flew into the air and cleared her throat. "Ahem!"

Everypony snapped to attention, not wanting Cadenza's ire.

"Attention, ponies: my little filly here, Twilight, has apparently spike the punch bowl. Do not drink it, please, and be warned if you do anyways."

Cadenza went back to the ground and glared at Twilight, who backed up against the table. "I can't believe you, Twilight. This kind of thing is exactly why don't let you out often-"

"OWW!"

"FLUUUTTEEERSHHHHY!"

Cadenza and Twilight whipped about, trying to identify the source of the commotion.

"Hey, Twilight!" Fluttershy said, flying over to them with Shining held in her grip, her hoof covering his eye. "I made a funny! You know this guy? Name's Shining Armor? Check it out..."

Fluttershy removed her hoof, showing Shining Armor with a black eye.

"I gave Shining a shiner! Hilarious, right?"

"He's my brother." Twilight clarified.

That seemed to the punch the laughter right out of Fluttershy. "Oh. Umm...I'll just...set him back down." Fluttershy gently lowered herself to the ground and dropped Shining.

A blazing rainbow trail tensely came into view and revealed Rainbow Dash, who landed herself just in front of Cadenza. "I am so sorry. I try to control Fluttershy, but it's like giving orders to an unhousetrained dog...no, I take that back, that's insulting to unhousetrained dogs."

Cadenza raised a eyebrow at her. "Well...did...Fluttershy spike the punch bowl?"

"I don't know." Dash answered. "But it wouldn't surprise me if she did!" She added, growling at Fluttershy, who seemed uncaring of the trouble she was in.

"W-wait, so Fluttershy really did talk to Twilight!?" Shining stammered.

"Yeah." Fluttershy answered. "What about it, Shiny Shining Shiner? Hah. Say that three times fast."

"Well..." Cadenza said. "I guess you're off the hook, Twilight."

Twilight signed and wiped her forehead.

"Hmm... Princess Cadenza? If I may trouble you for a moment..." Dash asked.

"Of course." Cadenza leaned forward to show she was paying attention.

"I have a program I run with an partner of mine." Dash whispered to Cadenza, but Twilight could still hear. "And I think Twilight Sparkle would benefit from going through it greatly. What do you say?"

"I say, what kind of program?"

"A conversational program. Ponies can talk about their deepest fears and darkest desires without being subjected to judgement of mockery."

"Hmm..." Cadenza scratched her chin. "Sounds interesting enough. When?"

"Is tomorrow good?"

"Sounds good. Come along, Twilight! We're going home for the evening."

Twilight made she was close behind her brother and Cadenza as they walked out of the building.

Despite her better instincts and Cadenza's teachings, Twilight turned back around to look at Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash, who winked and waved, respectively.

* * *

The next morning after, Twilight wasn't sure about going to see Rainbow Dash's 'program', but Cadenza insisted- and what Cadenza says, goes.

Shining also said they should dress up Twilight even more provactively then they did last night, so as to better persuade Rainbow Dash to procure Twilight's services again.

It took them a while to get there, during which Twilight was once again aware of colts and stallions seeing her dressed-up body, the former of which were too young to understand why they couldn't look away. But Twilight knew. She knew full well why.

She knew full well what was she being brought into.

"This should be it!" Cadenza said at last, holding up an envolpe matched to the adress of the tower they were in. Shining knocked on the door, and Dash pulled it open from the other side.

"Ahh! So good to see you took my offer." Dash exclaimed at them. "Just bring little Twilight in here, and I'll take care of the rest."

Cadenza and Shining nodded and motioned Twilight inward. The inside was dark blue, with rooms and stairs leading everywhere. Dash closed the door, seperating the lavender unicorn from her owners, which she took as a her cue.

"Where do you want me?" Twilight asked Dash.

"Where do I- want you?" Dash replied.

"You know...where do you...prefer...doing it?" Twilight explained.

Dash seemed only more confused. "Darling, I think why you're here and why you _think _you're here are two different things."

"Heey! If it isn't Twilight!" Fluttershy greeted, flying into the conversation. "Sorry about punching your brother last night."

Twilight made no response.

"I'm sure you'd love to chat, Fluttershy, but I need our doll right now, okay?" Dash said. Fluttershy seemed to actual give a feather about this and disappeared.

A white unicorn mare that Twilight thought looked rather pretty and strong, like an Amazonian warrior, stepped into view. Her eyes were extremely sharp, seductive and...Twilight wasn't sure she was seeing it right. Ponies can have judgmental eyes, but this unicorn's eyes seemed...non-judgmental.

"This is Rarity." Dash introduced her. "We call her a 'doll' as she's mute and pretty. Go to that room there and start talking."

Dash pointed to one entryway, which Dash had trouble getting Twilight to follow Rarity into.

"Get-in-there!" Dash snarled, ramming Twilight inside with her head.

Twilight tumble to inside the room with Rarity, and Dash closed the door on them. A click told Twilight the door was locked behind Dash.

Now inside such a tiny room with only Rarity for company, Twilight felt nervous. This clearly wasn't the sort of thing she was used to. She fiddled with her hooves nervously.

Rarity, sensing her discomfort, came forward and nuzzled her neck.

"Oh..." Twilight said. Normally she didn't like talking to ponies, but there was just something soothing about Rarity. Maybe it was the non-judging, impartial eyes. Or the silence. "Um, normally I'm the one who does the cuddling..."

Rarity removed herself and raised an eyebrow at Twilight.

"Well, it's hard to talk about..." Twilight said. "Maybe I can...show you instead?"

Rarity smiled reassuringly and nodded.

Twilight, now feeling back in her element, nuzzled Rarity's shoulder, and then moved to her wither...then her midsection, then her Cutie Mark- which Twilight starting going beyond mere cuddling with, and Twilight continued downward...

Rarity would've made a surprised noise, were she not mute, and she shot a glare at Twilight.

"Oh- oh, I'm sorry, do you not like that?" Twilight apologized. "Sometime customers have unique tastes..."

Rarity gave a disapproving pout.

"What? What is it?" Twilight questioned. Cadenza would be so disappointed if the customer wasn't satisfied!

Rarity took in a deep breath and motioned for Twilight to continue doing what she was.

"Oh...did you change your mind?"

Rarity rolled her eyes and turned away, but Twilight could still see the corner of her sharp, unintentionally sultry eye... Twilight wished she had eyes like that. It would've made her job easier. Twilight was starting to want Rarity to do it to her instead.

"Um..." Twilight rubbed a hoof on Rarity's Cutie Mark. "Would you, gosh, I don't usually ask this, but, would, um, you do it to me instead?"

Rarity seemed surprised at Twilight's request and looked at her, baffled.

"I, uh...I think that, what I mean is...I like your eyes." Twilight said. She found herself cupping Rarity's chin with her hoof. "They're so pretty."

Rarity's expression softened, and she nodded.

Twilight flopped over onto her back with her legs spread out. Rarity got on top of her and rubbed her chest with a hoof.

Twilight sighed contentedly, smiling, and pleased. "Thank you so much...I'm usually the one doing this, not having done to..."

Rarity smiled at her and nuzzled into her neck, wrapping their hindlegs together. She gave Twilight a little kiss on the side of her neck, which Twilight 'ooh'ed at.

A knock came from the door, signaling their time was up.

"Ohnn..." Twilight groaned, looking at Rarity and the door. "Can we do this again sometime?"

Rarity just kept smiling. Before letting her go completely, she pulled Twilight into a kiss- with tongue.

"Mmmm..." Satisfied, Twilight and Rarity got up and knocked on the door to show they were ready. Dash opened it, with Cadenza and Shining in tow.

"I trust Twilight was to your standards?" Cadenza asked Rarity. Rarity gave a rather dirty glare.

"She was to mine..." Twilight sheepishly said, blushing.

"Well, we'd best be off then. Can't have you out for too long, can we?" Cadenza suggested. Twilight nodded and followed behind the Princess as she left.

Rarity beckoned Dash over, and despite being mute, Dash seemed to totally understand what she was saying.

"Hmm..." Dash said, displeased at what Rarity was telling her. She gave a glance at the leaving Twilight and Cadenza.

"We need a plan..." Dash concluded out loud. "To get her out of there."

* * *

Twilight, Cadenza, and Shining all kept trotting along, Cadenza softly, subtly drilling Twilight for her performance, starting with the most important question.

"Did she enjoy it?"

"I...think so." Twilight meekly answered. "She was mute."

"Well, in that case, you should try harder to make her squeal!" Shining suggested.

Twilight would explain that since Rarity was mute, she couldn't squeal at all, but she was raised not to talk back.

"Wait up, ladies!"

Cadenza and Shining (but not Twilight) turned around to see Fluttershy barreling at them.

"Hello again, Fluttershy." Cadenza greeted suspiciously. "What do you want?"

"I want to hang out with Twilight." Fluttershy told them.

"Well, I guess we can arrange that." Cadenza said. "But you and Rainbow Dash are sure racking up a bill."

Fluttershy averted her gaze. "Yeah...we'll pay that, but for now..."

"Of course." Cadenza said. "Twilight?"

Twilight turned around, expecting to be leased to Fluttershy totally for the rest of the day.

"We'll talk payment later." Cadenza said. "Be good for Fluttershy, Twilight!...And make sure you know how much she enjoys it better then you did with Rarity!"

Cadenza and Shining left Twilight alone with Fluttershy, going off to where ever they went to enjoy themselves.

Twilight stepped closer to Fluttershy. After her experience with Rarity, she was expecting a little more routine with Fluttershy. Perhaps something deeper and more rough.

"So, are we going back?" Twilight asked.

Fluttershy shook her head. "I have you for the day, remember? We can go where ever. C'mon, I want you to meet a friend of mine."

...Friend?

"Let's move it, gal!" Fluttershy smacked Twilight on the Cutie Mark and began trotting away.

* * *

Twilight was a little self-conscious as Fluttershy led her to another portion of town, where markets and restaurants and foodstuffs could be found.

"There." Fluttershy pointed a table at a apple stall. Twilight saw an orange mare wearing a Stetson hat sitting behind it. She was dressed in a green and red carnival sort of dress and wearing an arrogant smile.

"Apples!" She said in a voice that sounded like it wanted to be posh, but just wasn't. It was too far at home in the old country to sound posh at all. "Get some fresh hot apples here!"

"Yo, A to the J-Mare!" Fluttershy shouted, giving Twilight a glare when she didn't instantly follow.

Of course. Twilight should've known to follow. What the leaser said went.

"Got a pony I need ya to work your magic on." Fluttershy said, taking an apple from the stand without asking and chomping into it.

"Who? This little mare here?

"That's, uh, Twilight here. Yup."

Twilight didn't like asking questions, but what did Fluttershy mean by magic? A-to-the-J was clearly a Earth pony. She had harvest magic connected to the Earth, and Twilight wasn't a plant.

"C'mon on over 'ere, Twilight."

Twilight whimpered and approached.

"Fluttershy tells me you need some of my special magic. Y'all know what that means, don't cha?"

Twilight shook her head. "No..."

A-to-the-J seemed disapproving of that. "Well, I'm Applejack. Tell me your name yourself."

"I'm...Twilight Sparkle." Twilight said. "I've been getting some weird customers today..."

"Customers? What do you mean, customers?"

Fluttershy whispered something into Applejack's ear.

"Oh my!" Applejack exclaimed. "Girl, you need more help then I realized...git over here on the stand!"

Twilight looked around. "I don't know...isn't it bad behavior to do it publicly!"

"We're not doing it! Jus' git o'er on the stand!"

Twilight got over and put her front hooves on the stand, but when she tried to climb up all the way and take the position, Applejack pushed her back to where she was only half on the stand.

"Now, Twilight..." Applejack said. "Tell me about yourself."

"Myself?" Twilight questioned. She wasn't the customer here. What she thought about herself wasn't important.

"Yeah! Come on, what do you like?"

Twilight was hesitant. She wasn't given much time to develop her own personality, likes or dislikes. She had to think long and hard to answer the question. What had she seen that she enjoyed seeing? Heard that she enjoyed hearing? ...Felt...that she liked feeling?

"...Rarity. I like Rarity."

Applejack seemed confused at first, but then nodded. "Mm-hmm. That makes sense. She is a beaut, isn't she?"

"Yeah." Twilight agreed, starting to come out of her shell. "Have you seen her eyes?"

"Oh yeah. I probably shouldn't be talkin' about my friends this way, but what I really like is her haunches. It's like..."

"Just the right balance of muscle tone and curve?"

"Exactly!"

Fluttershy scoffed at them. "Geez, if you two love her so much, why don't you marry her?"

Applejack frowned at Fluttershy. "C'mon on, Fluttershy. You know Rarity's attractive as well as the rest of us."

Fluttershy tapped her hoof onto her chin. "True."

"You should leave and come back, Twilight." Applejack suggested. "Preferably with topics other then how attractive our friend is."

Twilight would've laughed, but she was distracted by Applejack's comment. "OUR friend!? Oh, no no no no! I'm not allowed to have friends!"

Applejack was floored. "Not allowed? Not allowed?"

"No! Cadenza says they'll start putting ideas in my head and...turn me against her."

"Uh...huh." Applejack said. "Well..."

Applejack forcefully grabbed Twilight's hoof and forced a wire bracelet on it that was covered in orange star and blue circle beds.

"Tough. Ya see that? That's a friendship bracelet. Y'all quit wearing that, and I'll know, and I'll give you a-"

Applejack pounded her hoof into the stand, fraying a hole into it.

"Got it?"

Twilight got it. She nodded.

"Good! Now, go enjoy your day with Fluttershy." Applejack waved them off. Fluttershy gestured for Twilight to follow her away from the market and to the next part of town.

Once they were gone, Applejack pulled out a walkie-talkie.

"Apple to Rainbow. Phase complete."

"Good." Dash said from the other end. "Now we just have Pinkimenia do her thing..."

* * *

Fluttershy and Twilight, after going through a parlor, a menagerie of vanity stores, walked into a shady-looking part of town. It was saddening Twilight was unperturbed as she was.

"What are we here for?" Twilight asked.

"Wait for it..." Fluttershy instructed.

Twilight looked around, trying to find 'it', but only found when she turned around and looked to her back, where a pink tuxedo-clad pony was giving the most intense staredown she'd ever seen.

"Hello..." Twilight said. "Uh...are you a spy?"

The pink pony laughed. "Am I a spy? Am I a spy? I am not _a_ spy, I am THE spy. Pinkimenia, at your service."

"Hello...Pinkiemenia." Twilight said. "I'm Twilight Sparkle."

"Hmm!" Pinkie glared at her up and down. Twilight felt uncomfortable. It was like being put under an x-ray for examination. "You are not a social pony, are you?"

"No."

"We'll fix that." Pinkie said, looking to Fluttershy. "Oh yes...we'll fix that."

Twilight got a good idea what to expect out of Pinkiemenia, as she and Fluttershy burst into song.

* * *

Pinkie:

You're not a fully-lived pony,

You're not a fully-grown mare

But we'll fix you right up

Because as your new friends, we care!

Twilight:

Friends!?

Fluttershy:

Friends look out for each other,

We nurture like mothers

And reinforce like bro-others

Friends are the kind of things everypony should know

Pinkie:

A life without friends

Is a life with a short, sad end.

You should be out there,

Living life

With friends, friends of friends,

Friends of those friends wives!

Twilight:

But...

Fluttershy:

No buts or if's, my little lady.

We're here to show how life is really!

We're here to show the ropes,

What to wear,

All the do's and don'ts,

Having friends is the kind of thing everypony should know!

Twilight:

...

I'm not a fully-lived pony,

No, I'm not a grown mare.

But you're here to show me

Because you all care!

Twilight/Fluttershy/Pinkie

You're/We're here to show me the ropes.

All the do's and don'ts!

Having friends is the kind of thing everypony should know

We nurture like mothers,

We reinforce like brothers

Having friends is the kind of thing everypony should know!

Having friends,

Having friends,

(You're/we're to show me the ropes

All the do's and don'ts!)

Having friends is the kind of thing

Cadenza:

Everypony should know!

* * *

Annnd the music stopped.

"What are you doing?" Cadenza asked, Shining Armor giving disapproving glances at Twilight behind her.

Twilight pawed at the ground, looking down. "Making friends..."

"And what have me and Shining taught you about making friends?"

"There's no need for them when I have you and Shining..."

"That's right." Cadenza. "Take that ugly bracelet off."

Pinkie and Fluttershy jumped into the fray, unable to hold back any longer.

"UGLY!?"

"If Twilight wants to let you talk her down like that, that's her business, but NOPONY insults Appplejack's friendship bracelets like that!"

"Well, I just did." Cadenza snarled. "What are you going to do about it?"

Pinkie and Fluttershy huffed. It was rare that anypony got away with defying Cadenza. They looked to each other.

"It's all right girls...I should've known better." Twilight proceeded to remove the bracelet from her hoof. She had enjoyed the song with Pinkie and Fluttershy, talking with Applejack and- whatever it was she done with Rarity, but good things never last forever.

The instant the bracelet was removed from her hoof, an orange blur came bolting from nothingness, barreling down Cadenza and Shining, and Twilight found herself pinned to the ground by Applejack. Rainbow Dash and Rarity arrived on the scene shortly after.

"Nag dabit! I told y'all what would happen if you took off that bracelet, didn't I!?"

"Applejack, halt!" Pinkie exclaimed. "Cadenza made her do it!"

"Oh really?" Applejack jumped off and stared Cadenza down.

"Really!" Cadenza replied as she and Shining got back up. "Twilight...is not allowed to have friends!"

"And why is that?" Dash demanded, backing Cadenza into a wall. "Maybe it's because some friends would make her realize the way you treat is wrong? How she's sold out and leased?"

Cadenza stuttered. "Bu-wha-"

"Yeah, that's right. I figured it out from the way you talked after she saw Rarity. I know the only reason you let Twilight in was because you thought you could figure out more ways to control her! Use her desires to get what you wanted out of her!"

Cadenza glared and snarled. "You know you're defying me, right? Nopony defies me."

"As Twilight's friend, I feel obligated to expose your lies." Dash snarled, unaware Shining Armor was about to ram her. "I knew what you were doing to her, so I called up my friends and made a multi-phase plan to make my friends Twilight's as well."

Mid charge, Shining was tackled by Rarity and forced the ground. Shining kicked her off and tried to charge Dash, but Rarity wasn't going to down easily. She sucker-punched him, bringing him down.

Twilight was appalled. Cadenza and Shining had always, always taught her nopony was tougher then her own brother. Nopony. Ever. Period. If that wasn't true, what else might've they taught that wasn't true?

Shining Armor got up and managed to slip by Rarity over to Applejack. "Nyaah!" He grabbed her be the throat and held her tightly. "Twiley is going home right now, or this mare...isn't."

Dash and Rarity glared at him.

"Don't you dare."

"Oh, I'll dare!" Shining made to do something nasty, painful and crippling to Applejack.

"NO!"

Twilight's horn sparked and fizzled, shooting out a bolt of lightning that threw Shining off of Applejack. The lightning bolt kept traveled and started swirling in on itself,turning into a blue and black portal with a hypnosis pattern that sucked Shining inside, sending him to who-knows-where.

There was a number of feelings that could be gotten from banishing one's own brother through a portal. Sadness, regret, angst, denial...but Twilight felt...relieved. Protecting her friend was more important then her brother to her.

Which was wrong.

What else had Cadenza taught her that was wrong?

Channeling this new feeling into her horn, Twilight summoned a ring of reddish-purple fire around Cadenza, a new emotion filling up her eye-

Insanity.

"So, Cadence!"

Cadenza winced at the abbreviation of her name. "You dare call me-"

"SHUT UP!"

Twilight slapped Cadenza across the cheek.

"From now on, me and my friends decide what goes."

"You're defying me, Twilight."

"AND IT FEELS GOOD!"

Cadenza shrunk, Twilight's mouth showing insane fangs and circlets in her eyes.

"Twilight!" Pinkie exclaimed. "Your flank!"

"What?" Twilight doubled over to see there was a pink star Cutie Mark with sparkles coming off it emblazoned on her flanks.

Twilight was overwhelmed. "But-how do I- I don't-have any idea..."

Basking in new found insanity borne from the knowledge that she had been lied to her whole life, Twilight just broke into laughter. "Ha...haha...HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA! Cadence, you and I are going to have a long, long talk with me and my friends."

Twilight rubbed her Cutie Mark lustfully.

"I say, that Cutie Mark symbol looks like the symbol for magic!" Applejack said.

Twilight seemed to accept this.

"You know...? I think, between my Cutie Mark being magic, and my friends, I'd say...friendship is magic."

* * *

**Author's Notes for 'Return To Harmony'**

**...Well.**

**Here you go.**

**Componydum.  
**

**In THEORY I'm not working on any stories at _time-of-writing_, but in PRACTICE the lack of writing is starting to fester in my head and make me need to put my creativity into something.**

**And the 'having friends' song is...phonetically similar to 'Becoming Popular', yes...it was on my mind.**


	3. Shimmy

**Disclaimer: My Little Pony is the properties of Hasbro. This is a non-profit work made by an independent contractor outside of the official company's notice intended for non-profit entertainment and speculative purposes only.**

**Darkryt Orbinautz presents...  
**

* * *

The moon's rays fell over the dirty, well-beaten roads and farms of a rural community. Plowed roads were out as far as a farmer pony's eye could see.

One farm in particular stood out above them, a cut above the rest with connections to the royalty via friends. It had the honor of serving at weddings and galas and uh...sumthun else. Name's not clickin' at the mo'.

Sweet Apple Acres, where Applejack, representative of the Element of Harmony Honesty was washin' up sum dishes when suddenly...

"Applejack!" the weary, wizened voice of her grandma Granny Smith shouted. "Can y'all come up 'ere so Ah can talk to you!?"

"Shore thang, Granny Smith!" Applejack shouted back. "Jus' let me finish these last few dishes 'ere..."

Applejack scrubbed the last of food and apple-related pastry dregs off the plates with a cloth, then tossed the cloth on the table and galloped up into her granny's room, where she found her brother Big Macintosh sittin' beside their granny's wheelchair.

Granny Smith sighed. "Young'in's, Ah gotta get to talkin' to y'all."

"'Kay." Applejack answered, starting to get afraid of wut was comin' up. "'Bout?"

Granny sighed again. "Reproducin'. Keepin' tha Apple Family line afloat. Ah'm sorry to say, Applejack, but it's gonna have to be you."

Applejack's eyes widened. "Wut!? Why me!? Why not Big Macintosh 'ere!?"

"'Cos Big Macintosh's found love, an' it ain't wit anypony who can give me a grandfoal." Granny explained.

"Love? Aw, Granny! Y'all don't mean that stupid doll of Twilight's!?"

Big Macintosh glared at Applejack.

Applejack smiled nervously. "Ah, uh, Ah jus' meant that...oh, forgive me, Big Mac, it jus' slipped out!"

Big Macintosh huffed.

Applejack started shiftin' her eyes 'bout the room, tryin' to find sumthun' to deflect attention off herself. "Oh, weren't y'all supposed to give that back to Twilight, anyhoo!?"

"Ah was." Macintosh answered. "Ah did. Knocked on Miss Twi's door, gave her the doll, and made mah leave. Wasn't four steps from tha the door when Twi opened it back up and told me to take Smarty Pants back. Ah said no, seein' as it was her doll. She told me Smarty Pants always finds her way back. When Ah was ready to go to bed, Ah found her waitin' for me on the pillow."

Applejack raised an eyebrow. "But...Twilight's married to Pinkie, and she don't strike me none as the cheatin' type."

Big Macintosh facehooved. "Not Twilight, Smarty Pants! Smarty Pants was on mah pillow! An' Ah realized that...she loved me."

Applejack shook her head. "Big Macintosh, talkin' like that doll has feelings and... is alive jus' ain't right..."

"Ah'd agree, 'cept she is."

Applejack signed and gave up. There was clearly no use in tryin' to talk her brother outta tryin' to make a relationship wit a doll work.

"Ah'm sorry, Applejack, but yer gonna have to be the one to continue our legacy. Unless of course, y'all rather Apple Bloom do it..."

"No! NO!" Applejack shrieked. "Ah'll do it!"

In reality, Apple Bloom was gettin' close to bein' of-age. Still a few more years left before she even be allowed to bed, but she would probably start lookin' for stallions soon already, so that she knew what she wanted from whom-so-ever was going to end up bein' her life partner. But to Applejack, to any respectable big sister, not even a thousand years worth of age being magically transferred was enough to justify Apple Bloom gettin' a partner.

* * *

**Componydum**

**Chapter II**

**"Shimmy"**

**Episode Synopsis: Applejack starts to feel pressured to have an heir, and Rarity suggests she uses Fluttershy to 'practice date', but Fluttershy has been hiding sumthun from them quite well...  
**

* * *

It was the day after Applejack's conversation wit Granny Smith an' Big Macintosh. Applejack was traversing along Ponyville's dirt road wit a basket of apples bobbing along her back. She was goin' to gather up her friends and use tha' pretense of sharin' the apples to all get their advice on Applejack should proceed with procurin' herself the father of her own foal...and maybe a stallion while she was at it.

Maybe.

See, Applejack was gonna have some difficulties gettin' her own stallion-if she did. She preferred workin' by herself, and the stallions tough enough to reach Applejack's standards were also too arrogant to let their mare handle any work of any sort. An' the stallions whom would be willin' to stay at home, play with the foals and cook had other quirks about 'em that made disrespectful to stallions in Applejack's eyes.

So it was kind of a fine line.

Applejack had almost passed the local restaurant when she heard the unmistakable giggling of her friend Rarity coming from the tables. She stopped, then galloped back towards the way Pinkie Pie walks backwards.

"Hey, Rarity! What'cha up to?" Applejack said with a smile.

"Oh, Applejack!" Rarity exclaimed, puttin' sumthun behind her back. "Forgive me for being startled, darling. I was expecting Rainbow Dash."

"Oh, good! Ah need y'alls and the other girls help landin' me a stallion."

Rarity's eyes went blank. "Um. When you say a stallion, you mean a-"

"Ah mean somepony to help me keep the legacy of the Apple Family alive!" Applejack explained. "You know, a father."

"Are you sure you don't want another mare?" Rarity timidly asked. "I hear Lucky Swirl's turning into quite the prodigy of Twilight's in more ways than one. Though I also she's being bulled at school for having too mothers, the poor thing..."

Ah, yes. Lucky Swirl. The result of Twilight Sparkle and Pinkie Pie...experimenting with each in certain ways most ponies weren't allowed to know.

(And they were perfectly fine with that.)

"Wut? Why?"

"The ponies- and Changeling foals there too- all think her having two mothers is 'unnatural.'"

Oh yes, another thing...the Changeling species had been fully fledged into Equestria as proper citizens given some...unusual circumstances arising between Princess Celestia and Queen Chrysalis. Queen Chrysalis was a creature of opportunity, and Celestia had given her a very nice. (Also, she was in slavery staus to Celestia for four centuries in exchange for Celestia keeping her trigger-happy sister Luna from murdering her horrifically.)

"Well, it kinda is, ain't it? Ah mean, the story goes 'when a daddy pony and a mommy pony love each other very much', not 'when two mommy ponies love each other way too much-"

"Applejack! I can't believe what I'm hearing!"

"Well, ya gotta admit, sumtimes it seems like Twilight's a little TOO in love with Pinkie..."

Tha look on Rarity's face was nuthin' short of 'brain-crashed'.

"...TOO in love?" Rarity said more to herself than Applejack. "Can you be TOO in love? I wonder..." Rarity put her hoof to her chin as she attempted to work out the conundrum brewing in her head.

"Hey, Rarity!" Rainbow Dash greeted, flyin' down from above. "So, where's that-oh." Dash seemed deflated to see Applejack.

"Wut's wrong, R.D? Not happy ta see me?"

"Well...no. Rarity told me we would be getting a little one-on-one time."

"One-on-one time?" Applejack questioned. "OH! Rarity, Rainbow Dash! Don't tell me y'all are datin' each other behind our backs like Twilight and Pinkie were!"

Rarity and Rainbow Dash exchanged looks.

"We're friends." Rarity said. "...With benefits."

"Now wut in the hay is that supposed to mean!? You know what!? Ah don't think Ah want to know! Hmph!" Applejack turned around and started to storm off in a huff.

"Applejack, wait!" Rarity called after her.

Applejack stopped and looked over her shoulder. Though wit' a glare that made it clear she was only goin' to listen for a moment's notice.

"Since I'm, er...involved with Rainbow Dash, Twilight and Pinkie are married...perhaps you can complete the circle by asking Fluttershy out for a practice date!" Rarity suggested. "Most colts would find you rather drab at the moment..." The unicorn added quietly as an aside.

Applejack raised an eyebrow and tapped her hoof. That wouldn't really help wit gettin' a father for her future foal. But on the other hoof, Rarity seemed to a good idea wit the 'completin' the circle'...

In a weird, utterly crazy kind of way. It was one of those things, where a pony- a sane pony- would never, ever, ever think of it, but once it was thought of, it seemed like the unverse was wantin' it to happen.

"Y'all know wut? That sounds totally crazy, but fer sum reason, Ah can't help but like that idea..." Applejack trotted off towards Fluttershy's, having completely forgotten about her basket of apples. "Ah'm forgetti' something here...oh yeah!" she remembered them, picked up some apples with her mouth and tossed them into the air. She bucked them towards Rarity's and Rainbow's table.

"Thank you, darling!" Rarity waved at her.

Rainbow took her seat. "So, where's that present you had for me?"

Rarity held up a tiny box in her hoof. "It's right here."

"It's awfully small..." Dash noted. She recoiled suddenly wit' her wings out in alarm. "It's not a wedding ring, is it!?"

Rarity chuckled. "No, darling. I assure you it is _not_ a wedding ring."

"Oh, okay!" Rainbow Dash swiped the box from Rarity's hoof.

"Exscusie-moi..." the restaurant's waiter said to them, trotting over before Dash could open her present. "But are those apples from the restaurant?"

"Er, no."

"Then I'm going to have to ask you either get rid of them, or take them and leave. No food from outside the restaurant, you see."

"Of course. We understand." Rarity grabbed her apple off the table. "Come along, Rainbow darling."

Rainbow hovered silently behind Rarity, willin' to follow rather than lead.

"Oh my gosh!"

"What, darling?"

"I just remembered something!" Dash explained. A few days before Twilight's and Pinkie's marriage, Rainbow was having emotional troubles and went to Fluttershy for help. There, Dash learned of Fluttershy's attitude towards...intimacy. An attitude like that wouldn't go over well in a partnership. Granted, a partnership wasn't what Rarity was tryin' to get Fluttershy and Applejack into, but it's sumthun the farmer should've been warned of beforehoof.

* * *

Applejack ripped through Ponyville, nearly trampling over Twilight, Pinkie Pie and Lucky Swirl along their way.

"Applejack, watch were you're going!" Twilight shouted at her. "You almost trampled over Lucky!"

"Sorry! Ah'm kinda in a hurry!"

"To do _what!?_"

"Ah don't wanna talk 'bout it!"

Twilight huffed and shook her head disapprovingly. She didn't know what could've warranted trampling a filly, but Applejack was so stubborn there was no use talkin' to her.

Applejack arrived at Fluttershy's cottage on the outskirts and lingered around the various flower gardens that adorned the shy mare's home.

At first, Rarity's suggestions seemed like a crazy idea that would somehow result in some good after some-over-the-top harebrained shenanigans...but now that Applejack was actually here, about to ask Fluttershy out a practice date. An actual practice date date, with going to a restaurant of a movie or something...

Applejack gulped. "Universe, y'all better have a good reason for why Ah'm not doing the rational thang and forgettin' all bout this here idea..."

Applejack slowly made her through the flower beds and up the ramp and knocked on Fluttershy's door wit' her hoof. "Fluttershy! Fluttershy, are ya in there? Ah got sumthin Ah want to ask y'all!"

Fluttershy opened the door.

Applejack got worried.

Bags had formed on Fluttershy's eyes, her wings were raised, somehow up and low at the same time, and her tail looked stiff and recently cleaned thoroughly. Too thoroughly.

"H-hello, Applejack." Fluttershy wheezed out, sounder quieter than ever. "What can I do for you?"

"Oh, land sakes's, girl...forget about me, girl! Wut's happened to y'all!?"

"What do you mean?" Fluttershy questioned, as if unaware of her own self. "Oh...yes. This. Don't worry about it, Applejack."

"Y'all shore? 'Cause if y'all need anything..."

"Oh, I need something, but I don't think you can give it to me. Now, what did you come here for?"

"Well..."

Fluttershy shivered. "So much worse than Changelings..."

"Wut?"

"Nothing. Go on, Applejack. Please." Fluttershy seemed to really want Applejack to not worry about herself and ask what she wanted.

"Will...will y'all go on a practice date wit' me?"

Fluttershy perked up visibly. "Oh...looks you can help me, after all."

"Beg pardon?"

"Yes, I will go out on a practice date with you."

The bags under Fluttershy's eyes seemed to disappear like magic. Fluttershy trotted down the ramp, as if whatever had been ailing her had somehow been cured.

Applejack suddenly heard a hissing, sizzling noise from Fluttershy's still-open door.

Applejack was 'bout to ask wut it was, but Fluttershy seemed to read her mind.

"Don't worry about it." Fluttershy answered. "It's my problem, not yours. I thought we were going on a date?"

"Eh, yeah, shore thang! Uhh...here. Ah was goin' to share these apples wit' our friends, but-" Applejack laid the basket to rest under the ramp. "Ah'm shore yer critter friends will be happy to dig in.

"Thank you. That's very generous of you."

"Oh, no sweat. We can always jus' pick more apples. So, where we goin'?"

"Well, you asked me." Fluttershy said. "Where are we going?"

"Mmm...how's about that fancy restaurant of the other side of town?"

"Oh, I don't know...that place is awfully...fancy."

"Ah, shucks, Fluttershy!" Applejack said, draping her leg around Fluttershy's neck. "It's not like this isn't gonna turn into a regular thang, so we might as well enjoy it, right?"

"I guess..."

* * *

So, Applejack and Fluttershy trotted their way all the way towards the other end of town. As they went, they were waylaid by an angry Twilight Sparkle, whom still had yet to forgive Applejack for nearly tramplin' her filly.

"A foal could have been HURT!" Twilight yelled as Applejack and Fluttershy kept walking. "Does that not mean ANYTHING to you!?"

Applejack signed and turned around. Takin' in a deep breath, she put her hat over her chest.

"Twilight, Ah am so, so sorry Ah almost hurt yer filly, an' even though Ah was in a rush, Ah should've realize wut Ah was doin' when Ah was doin' it. Ah of all ponies should know what's it like to know yer little sister- or foal- was almost hurt. Can y'all forgive me?"

Twilight seemed placated. "Yes. Just don't do it again! To anypony!"

Applejack nodded. "Ah won't. Now can y'all leave me and Fluttershy alone on our date?"

Twilight nodded. "Sure."

Applejack and Fluttershy were almost out of earshot when Twilight realized what they had said.

"YOU'RE ON A DATE!?"

Applejack and Fluttershy rolled their ears and kept walkin'. Applejack bumped into somepony's chest.

"Oh, ah'm so sorry, sir or madam-hello." Applejack cut her apology short when she was who- or what she had bumped into- a very handsome unicorn stallion with blue hair and a white coat.

No, it wasn't Shining Armor.

"Hello to you, too." the stallion replied. "Shimmy's my name. What's yours, you cute little mudpony?"

Applejack giggled and blushed. Comin' from anypony else, being called a mudpony would've deeply insultin', be comin' from this colt, it seemed like a compliment on her Earth pony ways. "A-Applejack." A flustered Applejack stammered out.

Fluttershy suddenly put herself in between Applejack and Shimmy.

"Excuse me, but we're on a practice date, Shimmy." Fluttershy almost...was she growlin'? It sounded like she was growlin'!

Shimmy hmphed. "I'm aware of that, Fluttershy."

Applejack was snapped outta her daze. She raised her hoof. "Uh, beggin' yer pardon, but what's goin' on here?"

"We have a history." Shimmy and Fluttershy said in unison. Although Fluttershy near-snarlin' in her reply, Shimmy said with amusement.

"It would be ever so nice if you could leave us alone on our date, Shimmy." Fluttershy said with a tone Applejack had never heard her use before- it was almost she was...bitter.

Shimmy huffed. "Well...have a nice...date." Shimmy left wit' his nose in tha air.

Anypony in their right mind would clearly see that Shimmy was a jerk, or at least not nice. He must've done sumthun to make Fluttershy react like that, but Applejack couldn't keep her eye offa 'im. He had a very nice...Cutie Mark. Come to think of it, his Cutie Mark was a...female symbol.

"Applejack, can you quit looking at him, please? I know he's attractive, but we're on a date."

"Yeah, yeah, shore, sorry..." Applejack hung her head low in shame as she walked, but Fluttershy still seemed angry. At Shimmy, rather than her, but that provokes the question...

"Hey, Fluttershy? Wut did that Shimmy feller do?"

"What do you mean?"

"Ah mean...what is it about that got you so riled up so fast?"

Fluttershy signed. "I don't want to talk about it...but I should. Maybe I will, but not here or now."

Applejack accepted this, and they made to the fancy resturant wit'out further incindent. Once inside, they asked for a table. The pony there asked if they had a reservation.

"Reservation?" Applejack said. "Oh, Ah didn't know we needed a reservation."

"No reservation, no table." the clerk told them.

"Oh...can't you do something?" Fluttershy asked softly. "We'll tip you extra for your trouble."

The clerk rolled her eyes and snorted. "No reservation, no table."

"Mm...well, it's only going to get worse, so I might as well..." Fluttershy murmured.

"Wut'cha on 'bout, Fluttershy?"

"Could you look away, Applejack? So I can convince the clerk?"

"Uh...okay." Applejack turned away and heard a _smmmaack_ sound behind her like somepony being smooched. Applejack turned around to see the clerk's head wobbling about like she had been hammered.

"Uh...you know what?" The clerk said. "I think we have some folding chairs in the back. I'll see to it that the staff gets them out for you, and you make a table out of them over there by the wall."

"Thank you so much." Fluttershy thanked her.

So Applejack and Fluttershy got a rather weird table made out of folding chairs being bridged together the staff made willin'ly, but they all had confused expressions. Their waiter brought them their menu. He stood out, being a dark blue Earth pony who seemed grumpy 'bout everythin' ever.

"Wonder what his problem is." Applejack said out loud. She opened her menu and took a quick scan of its contents. "Wut do y'all think you'll have, Fluttershy?"

"Oh, Rarity brought me some veggie salad from this place once. It was so good, I think I'll order it...and maybe a side." Fluttershy answered. She quivered a little and signed. "So good..."

"Fluttershy?" Applejack said, folding her menu. "Ah know y'all said it was yer problem, but sumthun seems to have been bugging y'all all day. Wut it is?"

Fluttershy bared her teeth, her eyebrows furrowin'.

"Whoa! Ah'm sorry, Ah didn't-"

"Heey, ladies!"

Applejack realized Fluttershy wasn't mad at her. Shimmy walked to their 'table' if it could be called that. "How's your date going?"

"How did you get here?" Fluttershy demanded as harshly as she could. The end result was rather like a songbird that had a swallowed a lozenge improperly.

"I was going here today, anyways." Shimmy answered coolly.

"You followed us, didn't you? This is exactly why I broke up with you." Fluttershy said.

Applejack's widened to the size of dinner plates. "Y'all used to date? Shimmy, Fluttershy broke up with you?"

"I prefer to think of it as more she broke things off." Shimmy answered. "But yes."

Fluttershy put her menu down slowly. Tensely. "Shimmy, can I talk to you...in private?"

"Sure, sugercube." Shimmy answered. Fluttershy got up and trotted towards the restroom entrance, Shimmy followin'.

It wasn't normally in Applejack's nature to pry, but sumthun' was goin' on wit' Fluttershy all day...Applejack got up, puttin' her own menu down and trotted towards the two.

"Pardon me, y'all." Applejack said. "Ah seem to need to use tha little fillies' room."

Shimmy and Fluttershy nodded and parted to let Applejack through. Of course, Applejack didn't need to use the fillies' room at all. She pressed her ear against the door to listen in on Shimmy's and Fluttershy's conversation.

"I know you're upset." Applejack could hear Fluttershy say. "But I am done. That chapter of my life is over."

"Oh come on, Fluttershy..." Shimmy purred. "You know something like that can never be over. Don't you?"

"Whatever! You stay away from Applejack- you stay away from ALL my friends, or Celestia help me, I will take Pinkie's Party Cannon and firecracker your head off!"

Applejack put her hooves to her mouth in shock. Wut was goin' on that prompted Fluttershy into death threats!?

"Whatever you say, _sugercube_." Shimmy gloated. "Oh, and firecracker isn't a verb."

Applejack almost fell over and stumbled to stand up straight when the bathroom door was pulled open. Her head hit sumtun soft.

Applejack looked up to see her head was in Fluttershy's chest. She seemed to be doin' that a lot today...

"You never needed to use the restroom, did you?" Fluttershy questioned dryly.

"Ehehe..." Applejack giggled, tryin' to deflect attention off herself.

"You're a terrible liar." Fluttershy said. "I'm sorry you had to hear that. There's just something Shimmy that...that just makes so...arrrgh!"

"Ah figured that."

"Can we go back to the table and eat?"

Applejack nodded. They both trotted back to the table where their food had been served. Applejack had some apple fritters. Being an Apple pony of course, she thought Apple Family fritters were infinitely better.

"Wut...wut really went on between you and Shimmy anyways?" Applejack asked. "Sorry. Ah know Ah ain't got no right to ask."

"It's okay. I still don't want to talk about it, but..."

Applejack nodded, and they both ate in silence.

Once they were done and paid the restaurant, Fluttershy led Applejack out back for some privacy. She apparently had sumthun to talk to Applejack about. It had gotten late quickly, and twilight was setting in.

"I, um...you know that growling from my cottage earlier? That was Shimmy." Fluttershy explained.

"Goodness!" Applejack exclaimed. That hissing was Shimmy?

"Um..." Fluttershy pawed at the ground wit' her hoof, the way ponies do when nervous. "Applejack, it's...been so long since I even...so much as kissed somepony. Since we just had a date and ate, and it's dark...I was wondering...would you kiss me?"

"Oh!" Applejack exclaimed. This was supposed to be a practice date, not a real one! She wasn't supposed to be kissin' anypony! Especially not Fluttershy!

But Fluttershy was givin' her a look. A sort of glare that was somewhere between 'come hither!' and 'please, just this once?'

Applejack folded. "Okay."

Applejack approached and gave Fluttershy a quick peck on the cheek.

Suddenly Applejack's mind went all hazy. Everything got blurry and fuzzy like she had just taken a potion. A bad potion. A hallucinogenic potion, or similar.

In addition to all that, Applejack...wanted more. With little to no thought, she wrapped her hooves around Fluttershy's cheeks and went into a deep-throated kiss where Applejack moaned in pleasure, trying to shove her tongue into Fluttershy's mouth further in than it would- could go.

Fluttershy swatted Applejack's hooves off and held them. "Oh, I'm sorry, Applejack..." Fluttershy's started getting water. "I never should've asked you to do this!"

Fluttershy ran off, cryin'.

Applejack put her hoof to her head, coming back to her senses. "Wut happened? Wut Ah'd do!?"

"Well, duh. You should know what you did!"

Applejack turned around to see Shimmy standing there.

"Wut do y'all _want_, Shimmy? Y'all been followin' us 'round all day."

"I want Fluttershy to come back into the fold." Shimmy answered.

"Fold?" Applejack questioned. "Wut fold? Ah never known Fluttershy to have been part of anything."

"Oh? She didn't tell you? Aren't you one of her best friends? I would think she would tell you something like that."

"Ah've had it with yer double-talk, Shimmy!" Applejack stomped her hoof. "Fluttershy is one of the kindest ponies Ah ever had the pleasure to meet! She's kind, sweet, honest, takes care of animals-"

"And is a shape-shifting Succubus like myself." Shimmy added.

"An' a shape-shiftin' Succubus like yerself!" Applejack concluded fiercely.

Wait for it...

Wait for it...

Wait for it...

Shimmy pulled out a pocket watch that went tic-tic-tic as he waited for Applejack's response, as per the narration's instructions.

Wait for it...

Wait for it...

Waaaait for it...

Okay, now:

Applejack's eyes widened to the size of dinner plates.

"_WUT!?_"

* * *

**Author's Notes for "Shimmy"**

**Confused as to how we're seemingly back to (relatively) normal cartoon continuity?**

**Don't be.  
**

**I seem to have this thing where I give Fluttershy some quality that would make her a rival to Chrysalis in some fashion...here, I make her a Succubus, in one of my other stories, I turn her into an metal insect princess...**

**There's a lot of dialogue in this chapter, and not a whole of narration. Granted, I wanted to make the narration 'fit' Applejack and Applejack isn't a pony for a whole lotta fancy words, so I guess it evens out...**

**Um...I suppose I should explain the name. See, I had been reading fanfics with nifty ideas, but terrible executions, and it got to the point where could make ...compendium of them. I took it upon myself to take this nifty ideas and turn them into actual, proper fanfiction!  
**

**I will make sure to note _what_ came from _where_, when it appears.  
**

**...And not one of these ideas have appeared yet in two chapters and a preview.**


	4. Drained

**Disclaimer: My Little Pony is the properties of Hasbro. This is a non-profit work made by an independent contractor outside of the official company's notice intended for non-profit entertainment and speculative purposes only.**

**Darkryt Orbinautz presents...**

* * *

It took a moment for Applejack to come out of her shock. Once that moment had passed, her first instinct was to turn around and buck Shimmy in his smug muzzle.  
She thought better of doin' that, though. She decided to put that on her 'to do list'instead.

Right here, see.

_Applejack's To-Do List_  
_Buck apples_  
_Check in with Apple Bloom at school._  
_Make apples fritters at home wih' Granny Smith_  
_Give Shimmy a buck in his smug muzzle._

But rather than smack 'bout Shimmy like he so righteously deserved, Applejack rushed over to Fluttershy's house and try to comfort the, umm...apparently a Succubus? Wut's up wit' that, now?

"Fluttershy?" Applejack said, knockin' on the door to Fluttershy's shed. "Fluttershy, can Ah talk to y'all?"

"Go away! No Succubi here!"

"Ah never said anythin' 'bout that. Ah jus' want to talk to y'all."

Applejack stood there in front of the door, blown off by her practice date. She heard Fluttershy sob a little bit.

"Okay..." Fluttershy said meekly at last. "Come in. The door's unlocked."

Applejack pushed the door open, then searched Fluttershy's house for. She found the pegasus on the bed, still whimpering softly and jus' bein' sad in general. Applejack, wit'out invitation, hopped up on the bed and sat down on her haunches. Applejack draped her leg 'round Fluttershy's neck.

"Y'all wanna tell me wut's goin' on?"

Fluttershy sniffed and wiped away a tear from her eye. She looked at Applejack. "How much do you know?"

"Uh...Shimmy said y'all were a Succubus?"

Fluttershy nodded. "Yes, that's right."

"...Beggin' yer pardon, but...could y'all explain jus' wut in blazes a Succubus _is_?"

Fluttershy took in a deep breath. "A Succubus is kinda like a Changeling. But they don't feed on the love you have for somepony: They just feed on love in general...and..."

Fluttershy's voice dropped to a whisper.  
"...Intimacy, and...one more thing. I don't think Changelings feed on it, though, do they?"

"Ah...wouldn't know."

Fluttershy raised her neck up and looked out the window, where twilight was still alight. There was a bittersweet look on her eyes, like remembering things that she was proud of at the time, but were unimpressive or even -gasp- shameful upon remembering.

"I happened to be the best."

* * *

**Componydum**

**Chapter III**

**Drained**

**Episode Synopis: When it's revealed Fluttershy is a Succubus, a number of questions arise. Why did she hide it? How did she manage to keep it hidden? What's the difference between a Succubus and a Changeling? Why is the audience being asked these questions when there is no possible way for them to know the anwsers!?**

* * *

Applejack sat there in confusion. "The best? Wut do y'all mean, the best?"

"I mean, there wasn't a colt my age in all of Cloudsdale that wouldn't want once I used my magic on him." Fluttersht explained.

Applejack stared blankly...before falling over.

"HAHAHAHAHA AHHAAA HAA! Y'ALL- AHAAA, AH'M SORRY, THIS IS JUS' TOO FUNNY! HAAA! Y'ALL ARE TELLIN' ME Y'ALL YOU USED TO-Hahahahah...haaa. Used to be sum kinda super, um, super se-s-aeaaa-"

"Seductress?"

"Yeah, that's the word. Y'all are sayin' ya used to be one?"

"I was the one. That's how I met Shimmy...his family was in Cloudsdale on a trip in a hot air ballon, and we were drawn to each other...I later found out it's because we were both Succubi."

Applejack held out her hoof. "Okay, question: Were y'all always a Succubus, or did ya become one?"

"I don't know."

"Wut?"

"I don't know if I was like this at birth or if I was converted or...whatever! I just now there was a tiny part of my life where I just wanted to kiss as many colts as I couldwrap around my hooves."

"Uh...hang on a sec, here. WAAH HAA HAA HAA!"

Applejack fell backwards onto her back on the bed. The idea, the notion that Fluttershy could be a seductive to any degree was so ridiculously as to be laughable.

"Why do you keep laughing?"

"Cos-HA-C'os Ah can't buy that y'all used to be so boy-crazy! HAHA!"

Fluttershy rolled her eyes, beginning to get tired of Applejack's constant laughter when she was supposed to be here to talk. Deciding an example was the best way to get rid of the problem, Fluttershy rolled over onto Applejack's belly and put the tip of her wing to Applejack's mouth. She 'walked' her feathers like fingers along Applejack's lips before going up and tapping her nose.

"I want you to take me somewhere." Fluttershy said with a purr.

"...Sure." Applejack answered, falling totally under the spell. "Where we goin'?"

Fluttershy smiled, eyes lowered, and raised off Applejack slightly.

"...Heeey! Wait a minute 'ere..." Applejack exclaimed as she realized wut jus' happened.

"Now do you understand?" Fluttershy said. "There were a lot of reasons I moved to Ponyville. To be closer to the ground, to be closer to the animals..."

Fluttershy sighed. "To be further away from Shimmy and my victims."

"Victims?" Applejack questioned.

"Succubi feed on souls."

"Wut, really?...Oh, yeah, that reminds me! Shimmy said y'all were shape-shiftin'. Does that mean-"

"I'm not really Fluttershy? I don't know. I've never...done it myself. I never had to to get colts to like me. Unlike Changelings, 'cubi never turn into a pre-existing somepony. That way, there's no suspicious change in behavior to expose themselves."

"..Say, wut did y'all mean when y'all said 'victims'?"

"Uh, well..." Fluttershy put her hoof to her chin in thought. "It's been so long since I thought of any of them...they were so badly hurt, the poor ponies...although, I would kinda like..."

Fluttershy front hooves started shaking.

Applejack suddenly realized...Fluttershy was still on top of her, yet to roll off after her example.

"Eh, now, Fluttershy..." Applejack said, not sure she wanted to know how this part of the story went. "Let's jus' back up and-"

Fluttershy brought her lips crashing down of Applejack's. The magic's work was completed instantly, wit' Applejack unable to resist. The farmer wrapped her forelegs around Fluttershy's neck and gave in completely. Fluttershy's mouth tasted like all of Applejack's favorite apple treats and cinnamon-seasoned snacks rolled into one. Wut she didn't know, was that Fluttershy's mouth didn't really taste like that; the 'cubi magic automatically made it taste like the favorite taste of whoever the Succbus happened to be kissing, to help with the seduction.

When some of ghostly, non-solid, ethereal ...tendril started wisping it's way down Applejack's throat, Applejack moaned and dropped her forelegs off Fluttershy's neck, instantly drained of her energy.

The wisp going down her throat and into her stomach was slightly less pleasant, though.

Of course, "slightly less pleasant" in this case, means "Applejack realized she was going to be gravely injured or worse if sumthun didn't happen."

Applejack raised her hoof, intent on punchin' Fluttershy, but she lost her nerve in the pleasure still goin' on her mouth. She bucked her back to show she was appreciatin' it.

Then "sumthun" happened.

It felt like a hook had been speared through Applejack's stomach and into-into-

Her soul. Facehoof!

The hook gave a jerk, resulting in the most painful experience Applejack had ever felt in her life.

The feelings were near-indescribable, but let's give a go anyway, eh? For Applejack, it felt like her soul didn't want to be hooked out, so it shot out tethers - one into Fluttershy's chest- and five more elsewhere that kept the hook from pullin' her soul any further than it wanted to be.

Fluttershy and Applejack both let out gasps of pain. Fluttershy pulled away from Applejack. Far away from Applejack.

"Applejack, what was that!?" Fluttershy exclaimed, her breath heaving from the blow.

"Ah dun't know." Applejack answered.

* * *

The students at Apple Bloom's school all put their hooves to mouth in horror.  
The various tid-bits and tool of teaching made a clatter on the desk as Cheerilee, the teacher, jumped from it to the aid of the downed Twilight and Pinkie. The latter gripping the doorframe for support, the former on the floor with a piece of chalk just outside of hoof's reach, the diagram she had volunteered to draw on the blackboard only half-finished.

"Mama...?" Lucky Swirl asked, reaching over Twilight's flank. "Are you and Mommy okay?"

Twilight smiled, even though she was wracked with pain. "I'll be fine, Lucky. I'm...taking a break, okay? Be good for Cheerilee."

Twilight couldn't have her daughter worrying. It wasn't right for a child to feel that way.

Besides, worrying was Twilight's job!

* * *

Elsewhere at an otherwise normal pavilion...

Rainbow Dash lied on the grass, a yellow filly applying a stethoscope to her chest.

"You know, I always imagined one day Daring Do would stand before me." Dash chuckled. "Just not like this."

"Will you please refrain from inappropriate jokes like that in front of Vivian!?" A dark blue colt in a waiter outfit grumbled at her.

The filly removed the stethoscope. "I'm zorry, Rainvow Dazh. I cannot find anv'ething vrong vith vou or Raritv'e. Vou are voth perfectv'e healthv'e."

"Then why did we both experience such an intense amount of pain the same way a moment ago!?" Rarity exclaimed, her front half of her body collapsed on a table.

* * *

_At the Canterlot Castle..._

"Aunt Celestia?" Cadence asked, poking at her aunt's body with her hoof. Celestia had been just fine a moment, walking with her normal grace and sense of being lax in spite of her job, when she suddenly toppled to her side and smashed a table in the process. Now propped up against the wall, Cadence and Shining were poking at her, trying to figure out what could be done, if anything. The look of shock in Celestia's still eye was disturbing.

A drop of liquid came out of Celestia's eye like a tear, but instead of clear, or blue, it was a dark murky gray. It leaked down from her eye to her muzzle, prompting Cadence and Shinging to scream.

"AAAAAAAHHH!"

"HELP! SOMETHING'S WRONG WITH THE PRINCESS!"

* * *

Fluttershy propped Applejack up on the chair of her dining table, insisting on trying to make up for losing herself in the bedroom. The pegasus put a hot beverage on the table. Applejack, however, hadn't recovered so quickly from the mysterious pain spike. She was also suspicious of the drink.

"Wudda y'all reckon you'll tell the others?"

Fluttershy's eyes shrunk to pinpricks in fear. "Others?" she squeaked.

"Yeah...our friends?"

Fluttershy shook her head, her neck making tiny creaks as she attempted to reject Applejack's suggestion.

"Well, if Shimmy's a Succubus-"

"Uh, sorry, I should've mentioned this earlier. A male Succubus is called an 'Incubus', but...he's also shape-shifting equipped, so...I'm sorry, you were saying?"

"If Shimmy's a wut-ever-y'all-are-supposed to be, an' y'all operate the way y'all acted in the bedroom, then how are we supposed to get Shimmy to leave y'all alone?"

Fluttershy put a hoof to her chin. "I have no idea."

"...Oh! Ya know wut we should do? Ask Twilight for help. She should know sum spell that'll put an end to our worries!"

Applejack took another glance at Fluttershy. Sweet, innocent Fluttershy who, moments ago, had nearly sucked her soul out wit' a kiss.

"...Most of our worries." Applejack corrected. Fluttershy raised an eyebrow.

* * *

Cheerilee, Pinkie and Lucky all crowded around Twilight, trying to persuade her to stop working after the mysterious pain.

"Twilight Sparkly, you really should come home with me." Pinkie said, trying to coax her partner back.

"Sure, just let me finish this diagram..." Twilight agreed.

"No, no, I kinda want us to go now." Pinkie clarified.

"Pinkie's right, Twilight." Cheerilee said. "You shouldn't work like this when you're getting mysterious pains like the one you've had."

Twilight snorted, focusing on using her magic to drag the chalk along the board.

The door to the classroom suddenly burst open.

"Twilight!" Applejack snapped. "Can y'all come 'ere? Fluttershy and I need yer help wit' sumthun."

"Can it wait?" Twilight questioned with a hint of impatience forming in her voice.

"Uh, no."

"Okay..." Twilight levitated the chalk onto Cheeliee's dress, gave Lucky a good-bye kiss on the cheek and left with Pinkie to see what was troubling Applejack and Fluttershy.

Applejack walked over and talked wit' Apple Bloom to see how she was doin'. "Hey! How ya feelin', l'il sis?"

"Ah'm fine." Apple Bloom answered. "But are Twilight and Pinkie gonna be okay?"

"Eeeyup, they'll be fine. See ya at the farm!"

Applejack left, crossing checking in wit' Apple Bloom at school off her to-do list.

* * *

Twilight and Pinkie's eyes and mouth were wide and open with disbelief.

"Let me make sure I heard you correctly...you're saying Fluttershy is a some sort of Changeling...off-shoot that had kept it hidden until recently, when another pony of the same named Shimmy came into town?" Twilight summed up.

"Let ME make sure I heard correctly!" Pinkie interjected. "You two went on a practice date!?"

"Uh, yeah. Can we focus on how to git rid of Shimmy, now?"

"Well, are we sure he's here to try to win back Fluttershy?" Twilight questioned.

"Well...no. He jus' told me he was tryin' to get Fluttershy back into the fold, wutever that means."

Fluttershy whimpered. "Ooh...it means he wants to go back and hang out with 'cubi again." Fluttershy shuddered. "I don't want to go back there. I don't want to be a demon again. I mean, I still am a demon, but that's different-no, what I mean is-"

Fluttershy lost cohesion and grabbed Twilight by the withers and shook her.

"DON'T MAKE ME GO BACK THERE, TWILIGHT!"

Twilight removed Fluttershy's hooves from her personal space and try to calm her down. "Calm down, Fluttershy. We won't send you back to anywhere. Why don't you go out and keep to your normal routine while avoiding Shimmy while Pinkie, Applejack and I figure out what to do?"

"Okay..." Fluttershy said with a weak nod. Still quivering, Fluttershy slowly stepped out the door of the library. Twilight and company could hear her crying from the other side of it.

"Wut are we gonna do?"

Twilight 'hmm'ed. "Ah-ha!" Twilight reached into her tail and pulled out...

"A kiwi?" Applejack questioned. "Ah don't that'll really solve anythin', Twi'."

"Kiwis solve everything!" Twilight hissed. "But you're probably right." Twilight tucked the kiwi away back into her tail.

"Twi..." Applejack said. "Ah'm a mite concerned. Ah think Shimmy comin' round has brought back memories. Ah think one of those memories was what soul tasted like. Ya know, since she tried to kiss me outta mine...

Twilight 'hmm'ed again. "Ah-ha!"

She levitated a book off the shelf.

A very mean-looking book, as well. It was wrapped in a black casing that obscured its cover, there were chains stretched across its corners, and a lock in the center of said chains.

"This book was like this when I moved in. Pinkie tells me it's because it knows about magic relating to souls that ponies shouldn't know."

Applejack had two questions. One, wut was a book like that doin' in Ponyville's library? Two, how did Pinkie know that?

"I don't know, either." Twilight answered, as if she was blessed with psychic power. "But a little of this here, a little that there..." Using her magic, Twilight fiddled with the lock until it clicked, causing the chains to drop to the floor, where they screeched like they were alive and injured.

"That's...friendly." Pinkie remarked.

Twilight grimaced, but she swallowed and pressed on, flipping the book open. "Hmm..."

Pinkie and Applejack crowded her, wanting to know if Twilight could find anything in the mysterious book of vaguely-hidden doom.

"...There's nothing in here that's relevant!" Twilight exclaimed with distress. She levitated the shadow book of doom back to its place on the shelves and start tearing through the rest of the shelves for anything she could find about demons.

"Come on, come on..." Twilight mumbled, really wanting to find something to help Fluttershy. "Ah-ha! Got it! It says in this one that a there's a melody that no demon can resist if it's played!"

"All right." Applejack said. "Wut is it?"

Twilight scanned over the book again.

"It...doesn't say."

Applejack and Pinkie frowned.

"SPIKE!" Twilight shouted. The dragon in question was at Twilight's heels in the blink of an eye.

"Yes ma'am!" Spike said, saluting.

"Make a letter to the Princess." Twilight instructed. Spike equipped himself with the necessary tools for the job and Twilight began dictating. "Dear Princess Celestia, my friend, Fluttershy, has come under attack by a Succubus. We are unable to locate anything that could help except for a note in my books saying there's song that demons are unable to resist, but we can't find in the book. Can you help? Your Faithful Student, Twilight Sparkle."

Spike blew his magical fire on the letter, turning it into a wisp that magically shifted planes until it was in hoof's reach of Princess Celestia herself.

* * *

Celestia was splayed out on a bed, her 'slave' Chrysalis rubbing her hoof anixously.

"Are you all right now?" "Chrissy" asked.

"No." Celestia answered starkly. Despite her fairly negative answer, being able to talk was a good sign of progress.

"Do you...know what happened?" Chrysalis asked.

Celestia's eye winced. It was like she did know, but didn't want to share it.

"Sister?" Luna said softly, peeking her head out of the door to the bedroom. "A letter from Twilight Sparkle has arrived. Can thoust reply?"

Celestia shook her head from side-to-side.

"Would thoust...prefer we answer it?"

Celestia nodded.

Luna drew out from the room and on the the other side of the door, unfurled the letter and scanned over it. "Hmm..."

Back in her room, another spillage of the mystery gray liquid leaked from Celestia's eye.

* * *

Twilight, Applejack, Pinkie, and Spike all sat down, waiting apprehensively for the Princess' reply. Eventually, Spike belched out another wisp of fire that turned into a magically floating piece of papyrus.

To Our Dear Friend, Twilight Sparkle, it began.

_Celestia is occupied at the moment, and we have received her consent to answer your query instead. We knoweth thy song of which thoust speaks. We have included its notes on thy back this letter, but we must insist thou doth not read it due to prior history between thoust and ourself._

_Trust us,_

_Thy Friend, Princess Luna._

"Hmm. Apparently, Princess Luna knows it, and she put on the back of the letter, but she doesn't want me to see or hear it." Twilight informed her friends.

"Lemme see!" Pinkie demanded, taking the paper in her hooves, making sure not to let Twilight see the opposite end. "Heeey...I know this song from somewhere..."

Twilight tilted her head. She wanted to ask a question, no doubt, but she thought better of it and left Pinkie, Applejack and Spike to do what needed to be done. "Get out there and play, girls! Fluttershy's counting on us!"

Pinkie and Applejack saluted. "We won't let you- or her- down!"

"CHARGE!" Pinkie shouted, pointing her hoof dramatically.

"Uh, Pinkie?" Twilight said. "The door's that way."

Pinkie turned around to towards where Twilight was pointing. "CHARGE!"

Pinkie whipped out a trumpet from nowhere and blared a military march tune into it.

* * *

Applejack and Pinkie found Shimmy lying on his back under the shade of a tree at Sweet Apple Acres. Applejack was so infuriated by the thought he was goin' to git at Big Macintosh or Apple Bloom -or even poor Granny Smith- that she walked right up to 'im and bucked 'im in tha face wit'out even askin' wut he was doin'.

"OW!" Shimmy exclaimed, coverin' his now-throbbin' nose wit' his hooves. "I admit I probably deserve that for something I did, but what was that for!?"

"That was fer gettin' to close mah family home!" Applejack growled. Pinkie came out of the camouflage they'd been usin' and did her best 'demand-giving' pose.

Shimmy laughed evilly. "I didn't even know this was your home! I'll be sure to keep that in mind next time I come to Ponyville."

Applejack and Pinkie exchanged glances.

"Uh, about that." Applejack said. "There won't be a next time, Shim."

Shimmy raised an eyebrow. "What makes you say that?"

Applejack smiled. "Pinkie?"

Pinkie whipped out a fiddle. A very special fiddle, as it had been given to her by Princess Luna a long time ago, and she played for Twilight every so often. She began playing the notes listed on the letter.

Shimmy's eyes shrunk as he recognized the tune. "How can you- possibly know that song!?"

"I have my ways." Pinkie said mysteeeeriously. "Now, get lost from Ponyville, leave Fluttershy alone, and don't ever come back!"

Shimmy stood his ground, defiant. Pinkie continued playing, and eventually Shimmy very begrudgingly obeyed and trotted out the Acres, never to be seen in Ponyville again.

As Applejack and Pinkie watched him go, it dawned on them that the day had been won.

"Ah reckon we should go and tell Fluttershy it's safe, eh?"

"Yes!"

As they trotted towards Fluttershy's house, Applejack realized she could cross off 'buck Shimmy in his smug muzzle' off her to-do list.

* * *

Outside Ponyville, Shimmy grumbled and mumbled as he walked from the humble farmer town. He was non too happy about being denied the chance to bring Fluttershy back to his side, even it wasn't as his marefriend.

He bumped into somepony's chest. Stepping back, he saw it was-

"Princess Cadence!" Shimmy exclaimed, bowing. "Uh-heh...to what do I owe the pleasure?"

Cadence blinked and glared.

"...Your Majesty? Have I done something wrong?"

"Oh, I think you know what you did wrong." Cadence said ominously. "Princess Luna knows quite a bit about demons...more than you might think. Observe this colt next to me." Cadence jerked her head. Next to her leg was a tiny colt with a coat covering in brown spots.

"With Luna's blessing, this colt is gonna get'cha." Cadence explained.

Shimmy snorted. "Really?" Shimmy looked the colt over. He didn't seem all that impressive.

"Blar!" the colt 'roared' standing on his hind hooves and making menacing gestures with his forelegs. "I'm a monster!"

Shimmy chuckled. "Yeah. Real monstrous, kiddo."

A circle of teal fire suddenly burst around the three of them, trapping them.

"AH!" Shimmy exclaimed. "Your Majesty, if-"

Shimmy's would-be bartering for his life was cut short by the sight of some dreadful, armored, flaming, pumpkin-headed caricature of a pony.

"**NAH HAAAAARG!**"

"AAAAAAAH!"

* * *

Meanwhile, while that was happening, Twilight was glossing over the doom-book that hadn't helped her and her friends earlier, having become interested in what was in it even though it hadn't helped earlier.

_But perhaps the most interesting thing that can be done to protect a soul..._ the book read.

_..Is to mutilate it and chop it into pieces. When one portion of the soul is disturbed, it will 'tether' itself to the other pieces to protect itself._

* * *

**Author's Notes for "Drained"**

**I've this story idea involving Fluttershy and a succubus for the longest time now. It's kinda funny to imainge sweet innocent Fluttershy being somehow involved/related to the most definitively anti-innocence demon ever. The original idea was that Fluttershy was the only who could resist the 'cubus when she/he/it came into town and seduced all her friends.**

**Then a "A Canterlot Wedding" airs and OH, LOOK, THE CHANGELINGS ARE PRACTICALLY SUCCUBI. ARRRGH MY STORY IS RUINED BLAH BLAH BLAH FANBOY WHINING GRIPE BLAH BLAH BLADDY-BLAH.**

**BLAH.**

**...What was I talking about?**

**Oh, yeah. Timeline issues! At what did this allegedly Succubus activity of Fluttershy's occur? -Some point before she met Rainbow Dash.**

**So, are you one of the ponies who the other Componydum entry fics? 'Cause if you are, you should notice some things in this chapter...but if you're not, don't worry! I'll have a (very, very rudimentary) explanation for them later!  
**

**Oh, yes. "The Midniyt Stalker" left a review saying s/he was confused. My question is: Did the things confusing him/her get cleared up in this chapter...and/or are the things s/he is confused things viewers are SUPPOSED to be confused about?**

**Edit: May 13, 2013: Added this line:****Wut she didn't know, was that Fluttershy's mouth didn't really taste like that; the 'cubi magic automatically made it taste like the favorite taste of whoever the Succbus happened to be kissing, to help with the seduction.**


	5. Learning

**Disclaimer: My Little Pony is the properties of Hasbro. This is a non-profit work made by an independent contractor outside of the official company's notice intended for non-profit entertainment and speculative purposes only.**

**Darkryt Orbinautz presents...**

* * *

One of Ponyville's most well-known features was it's library. It was built into a tree, for one thing. How many buildings were built into a freakin' tree!?

"What's that? What? Can't think of any, can you? That's because-"

"CHRYSALIS!" Twilight shrieked.

"Because..uh...there's..." Chrysalis stammered, trying to not show submission to Twilight in front of the small crowd that had been gathered by keeping her tirade going.

"These ponies are here to learn, not listen to you brown nose me and my home!" Twilight snapped.

"I wasn't brown nosing-"

Twilight glared.

"...Okay. Guilty as charged."

"I'm so sorry, everypony." Twilight said to the crowd. "Some ponies are just a little too happy to be working here." She said with a gesture towards the Changeling Queen under her employ. "Lucky Swirl!"

Obediently and somewhat fearfully, Lucky Swirl appeared in an instant at the sound of her name. Fearfully, because she had inherited Twilight's fear of disappointing her superiors.

"Yes, momma?" Lucky asked. Twilight draped her leg around her daughter's neck and whisked her to the side.

"I need somepony to distract Chrissy while I tell the study group more about the library's history and book selection." Twilight explained. "Is my number three assistant up to it?"

Lucky saluted. "Yes, ma'am!"

Twilight unlatched her grip, and Lucky marched towards Chrysalis with the intent of occupying the latter's day with hours of childish games.

Twilight motioned for the study group to follow her and break away from Chrysalis. The study group had been sent here by a school to learn about and from Twilight's library...before Chrysalis began with the brown nosing.

Granted, Chrysalis had a lot of brown nosing to do. She had, after all, almost ruining Twilight's and her brother's life and wedding. Then she entered a slave- uh...already went over this last chapter. So, yeah! Chrysalis was Lucky's foalsitter, so that any lingering contempt Twilight had towards the Changelings wouldn't transfer to Lucky and turn into a weapon against the shapeshifting species.

No mother wants their filly to turn into a weapon.

* * *

**Componydom**

**Chapter IV**

**Learning**

**Episode Synopsis: It becomes clear to Pinkie Pie and Foalsitter Chrissy that Twilight Sparkle has been making some questionable decisions regarding Lucky Swirl.**

* * *

"This is the math section, the history section, and over _here_..." Twilight leaned to her side and pointed at another shelf. "Is the history of math section."

The study group, mostly teenaged in age, had a varying degree of interest. On one hoof, Twilight's enthusiasm and passion for the written word was near-boundless, and nopony wanted to stomp over it. On the other, books were books...

They? They were teenagers.

The two generally don't mix.

One pony, more unsuspecting to the boring dust of the library than the others, let out a yawned. Twilight instantly noticed and snapped to attention.

"Is somepony tired?"

"N-no." The yawning teen answered. "Just...bored."

"Bored?" Twilight questioned. "How could you possibly be bored!? You're in a library! An infinite source of knowledge and wisdom! Anything you could possibly think of is in here!"

One student raised their hoof.

"Yes, even books about six-legged ponies who wear funny hats." Twilight answered.

The student lowered his hoof, then raised it again.

"Yes, even a book about books that are about books."

A female student raised her hoof.

"No." Twilight answered forcefully. "This is a family library. Understand?"

The student nodded.

"Now, where was I?" Twilight murmured. "Oh, yes, I just pointed the history of math section. Well, right over adjacent from there is-"

SPLLOOUSH.

Twilight was cut short as an explosion of green goo suddenly came out of nowhere, drenching her and the study group in ...she didn't know. She wasn't sure she wanted to.

Twilight shifted her gaze across the room until she found who she was looking for: Chrysalis and Lucky, standing by an entrance to another room while also covered in the green goo.

"Sorry..." Chrysalis could only mutter pitifully. "We got...carried away."

Twilight scraped some goo off her face and tossed it aside. "I can see that."

The students had conflicting experiences about the goo-splosion. To some, it was something to remember the trip by. To others, it was a good reason to never come back to the Ponyville Library ever again- even if Twilight and Pinkie did offer their services to give all of them a free cleaning.

Once they had all been cleaned off and left discussing what they were going to tell their parents when they got home, Chrysalis and Lucky were dragged by the ears by Pinkie to Twilight (impressive, given Chrysalis' stature.) Not for punishment, but for a lecture...

Okay. Maybe it was for punishment after all.

Now standing before their matriarch, Chrysalis and Lucky fiddled nervously with their hooves.

"Twilight, I-" Chrysalis began.

Twilight cut her off."I don't even want to know how you made that much goo in that little time. What I do want to know is what you two were doing that resulted in the explosion happening in the first place!" Twilight turned towards Lucky. "Lucky, I told you to distract Chrysalis! What happened!?"

"We were playing a game, and then Chrissy wanted to...experiment." Lucky said with an uncertainty to it.

Lucky had no idea how much of a terrible choice of words that was.

"...Experiment?" Twilight parroted, using the tone both Chrissy and Lucky had come to realize meant she was going to blow up in a very short range of time. "Lucky, would you go into the other room? Pinkie can keep talking to you in there."

Lucky was confused, but nodded and obeyed. Pinkie wasn't quite as harsh as Twilight when it came to punishment, so that was a plus.

Chrysalis, meanwhile, was (quite rightfully) fearful Twilight was going to put a few extra holes in hooves that weren't supposed to be there.

"Twilight, listen, we didn't do any experimenting!" Chrysalis desperately attempted to assure her employer.

Twilight glared. "Then what were you doing?"

"...Um, experimenting. But not like that, I swear!"

Twilight's expression remained hard.

Chrysalis put her hoof over her chest. "I swear upon my contract to Celestia we were not engaging in any activity a little foal should be not engaging in."

Twilight tried to keep her hard gaze, but at Chrysalis' willing to put her contract on the line, she let out a deep breath.

"Just...don't let it happen again, okay?"

Chrissy saluted. "Okay!"

* * *

Lucky had been decidedly proven wrong. Pinkie's punishment, while not involving a lecture, was cruel and unusual.

Lucky was going to bake a cake.

With three of her four hooves tied, and no magic.

Grunting as she waddled and hopped from one end of the kitchen to another ("Mhph! Mphph! Mhph!") Lucky barely managed to hold an egg in her mouth to drop into a bowl.

"Very good." Pinkie noted. "Now go get the second one."

Lucky was about to protest, but thought better of it and began hopping back the way she came.

"Heey!" Spike said in sing-song, entering the room. "Got a letter for Pinkie."

"A letter? From whom?" Pinkie questioned.

"Uh, your parents, I think?"

"You think?"

"It says Clyde and Sue..."

"Let me see that!"

Pinkie dashed across the room, barreling poor Spike down as she took the letter from him. She started reading it and absently-minded walked out of the room, completely forgetting about Lucky's punishment.

Spike looked at what Lucky was doing. Remembering she was Pinkie's daughter as well as Twilight's, he decided not to question it and left the room.

...Leaving Lucky completely alone.

At first, her thoughts were mostly to focus on her assigned punishment, but once she had managed to hop and stumble her way to mixing the bowl, she suddenly felt tempted to use her horn. Even though she wasn't supposed to, and like Twilight, Lucky did not like breaking rules or guidelines.

...But still. Something was bugging her about- something was nagging her. Something older than her, more powerful than her, more ancient than her, daring her, tempting to break the rules just this once. Something tingling in her haunches.

...In fact, it wasn't even about the rules: it was about using her magic to bake the cake.

Finally giving in, Lucky levitated the batter into it's pan and used her magic to open the oven door.

Pinkie came around the corner just that instant.

"Good of them to write. Poor Inky. I hope she gets better. So, Lucky have you-" Pinkie gasped when she saw Lucky using her magic to start the cake's cook time.

Rather than have the expected reaction of snapping at Lucky and chewing her out for disobeying the rules, Pinkie went back around and called for the family.

"Chrissy! Sparkly! Spike! Come quick!"

"What? What is it!?" and similar questions chorused out in as Spike, Twilight and Chrissy all rushed to the kitchen to see what the hubbub was about.

"Look, look!" Pinkie instructed, pointing at Lucky.

Twilight seemed to understand what was going on. Spike and Chrissy, less so. Pinkie declared for them to be silent while the cake finished. Both Spike's and Chrissy's curious inquiries were met by slaps from Pinkie to keep them quiet.

Once the cake finished baking, Lucky pulled it out with her magic and levitated it proudly in the air. Until she saw both her momma's standing there. She dropped the cake, where it splattered onto the stove.

Lucky threw herself at Pinkie's feet, begging for forgiveness. "I'm sorry! I'm so sorry, mommy! I didn't mean to cheat at my punishment- something just...grabbed hold of me!"

Lucky sobbed into her mommy's hoof a little.

Then, over the quiet of her sobs, she realized she wasn't being scolded. Looking up, she saw Everypony had smiles on their faces- though Chrissy's was more forced, not understanding what was going on.

"I don't understand...you're not mad at me?" Lucky questioned as she drew herself to her haunches.

"How could we be?" Twilight questioned back. "We know what happened. You'd be surprised how many ponies feel like they've been put in a trance when they're about to get their Cutie Marks."

"Cutie Mark?" Lucky questioned. "But I don't have a Cutie Mark...how is that relevant?"

Lucky turned her neck around to look at her flank, thinking that maybe something happened to it that was the cause of Twilight's confusing talk.

She was right. Something had. She had gotten a Cutie Mark. A birthday cake with three candles, one more centered and larger than the others, that appeared to be lit with a five-pointed yellow star giving off sparks.

"I have my Cutie Mark!" Lucky exclaimed. She would've started running around in circles, were her legs not bound. Instead, she tripped.

Pinkie chuckled. "Here. Let me get that for you..." Pinkie bent over and untied Lucky, who proceeded to run around in circles, exclaiming she had her Cutie Mark over and over.

Twilight brought her head close to Pinkie's. "Should we tell her you're going to make redo the cake without magic?"

"No!" Pinkie exclaimed in appall. "She's so happy right now."

"We'll tell her later."

* * *

Sometime later, (after Lucky re-did her punishment, of course) Twilight had pulled Lucky aside, intending to share some interesting news with her. At least, she said it was interesting.

"I've been waiting for you to get your Cutie Mark." Twilight started off.

"Really? Why?" Lucky questioned.

"So that we can enroll at Ponyville's local school!" Twilight exclaimed with a clap of her front hooves.

"School!?" Lucky exclaimed. She started bouncing around in circles again. "I'm gonna go to school! I'm gonna go to school!"

Lucky halted.

"Momma, what's school?"

Twilight giggled. Lucky had been...somewhat sheltered. Not a lot! Just a little bit. Just a cautious little bit... -during her brief lifespan under Twilight's roof. In particularly, Twilight had yet to send her filly to school, insisting on tutoring her filly herself.

"School is where most ponies go to learn. I can't tutor for your whole life."

As much Twilight would've LIKED to...

"Okie-dokie-lokie!" Lucky saluted. "When do I start?"

Twilight smiled at her daughter's willingness to try this thing. "As soon as I can get something scheduled with Cheerilee."

Lucky smiled and nodded and left the room, passing Pinkie Pie on her way out.

Pinkie smiled at her daughter, then turned to Twilight with a serious expression.

"Ooh...ponyfeathers." Twilight muttered under her breath. Pinkie having a serious expression was never a good thing. It would never BECOME a good thing. It is, was, and will always be NOT a good thing.

"Can I talk to you?" Pinkie asked.

Oh, dear. The dreaded 'can I talk to you?' question no husband wants to hear from their wife. Granted, they were both mares and the others' wife, but in this case, Twilight was going to be considered the husband, for all intents and purposes.

"Of course, angel cake!" Twilight answered, putting a transparent grin in an attempt to hide her anxiety of what Pinkie was about to say.

"I know you wanted to tutor her, but she doesn't even know what school is! How-WHY have you been keeping her away from the world so much?"

Twilight shifted her eyes around the room, trying to look for an excuse to redirect the conversation to anything other than her motives.

"Heey!" Twilight drawled, pointing at a door frame. "I think the dust on that frame changed!"

Pinkie glared. "Twilight, am I going to have to flirty to get you to talk?"

Twilight raised her neck up, tall and proud, and stood her ground. "We've been married for long enough that doesn't scare me anymore."

Pinkie's confident smirk suggested Twilight's statement was untrue. She giggled a little bit. "All I have to do is just get uncomfortably close to you and smiled with my lips an a certain angle, and you'll pant like a dog."

"Will not."

"Will too."

"Will not."

"Will too."

"Will-"

Pinkie zoomed over the room, her face in Twilight's, and made aforementioned smile at a certain angle.

"Too." Twilight finished, her voice almost instantly dropping into a pant. "Okay...it's...it's the Cutie Mark Crusaders, and Diamond Tiara."

Pinkie pouted and raised her eyebrow.

"Aw...come on, Pinkie. You know how much I don't like it when you're not smiling."

Pinkie kept her pout.

"Quit pouting, or I won't explain anymore than that." Twilight commanded.

Pinkie went back to the angled smile, even adding an eyebrow raised enticingly. Twilight's lip quivered. She wanted to pretend she still had some dignity and not explain to Pinkie what it was she fearing, but darn if Pinkie's seductive face wasn't...well, seductive.

...Then again, she had said Pinkie had to quit pouting. Loophole abuse!

But also, Pinkie was making one of her faces, so...

Without being able to help herself, Twilight grabbed hold of Pinkie's cheeks and kissed her deeply. Pinkie 'mmm'ed, but patted Twilight on the back of the neck to remind her there was an issue at hoof.

Twilight removed herself Pinkie's mouth and sighed. "I was afraid that Diamond Tiara would start teasing Lucky about her not having a Cutie Mark, and then- then she would join the Crusaders and..."

Twilight hugged Pinkie closely. Which was good, since the next thing Twilight would say would be so quiet that if Twilight's mouth was any further from Pinkie's ear, it wouldn't have been audible.

"_She would get hurt._" Twilight confessed.

"Oh. Sparkly!" Pinkie exclaimed. "Ponies get hurt all the time! Rainbow Dash is always crashing into things, Spike is bumping into something or another, and Applejack overworks herself..."

Pinkie eyed Twilight.

"And don't even get me started on your masochistic tendencies."

Twilight smiled and blushed, totally not caring about Pinkie's eloquence in her words.

"Yes, but..."

Twilight turned away.

"A filly is different. _My _filly is different. _Our daughter_ is different."

"Hmmm." Pinkie said.

Twilight started to cry. A little. She quickly sniffed and wiped the salty product away. "Come on." She instructed, heading towards the door. "School hasn't started yet. If we hurry, we might be able to get her in today.

"Lucky!" Twilight shouted. "Your momma and I are going out to talk with Cheerilee! Be good for Chrissy! And don't cover the library in goo again!"

"Okay!" Lucky waved at them, fiddling with a gyro in her hooves. It was only after she heard the door lock click behind her mothers that she realized she didn't know who Cheerilee was.

Chrissy stood tall and adamant in the room, intent on fulfilling her promise that she would be an even better foalsitter for Lucky than Princess Cadence was for Twilight.

"Lucky?" Chrissy said. "You know your mother had her own foalsitter when she was a little under your age?"

Lucky quit playing with her gyro.

"Sunshine, sunshine, ladybugs awake. Clap your hooves and do a little shake." Lucky said as if put into a trance. She sounded almost zombie-like, even.

Chrissy raised an eyebrow, not knowing of the sentence's origin and true value. "Uh, that's nice...I guess? Anyways, I promised myself I'd be an even better foalsitter than her. And believe you me, Twilight considered the bestest foalsitter in the history of foalsitter, so I certainly have some strides to take."

Lucky tilted her head. The combined teaching of having both Pinkie and Twilight were about to show through.

"But Cadence foalsat momma, and you foalsat me. But you never foalsat mama, and Cadence never foalsat me. So we can't really compare your foalsitting abilites, since neither of you ever foalsat the same pony!"

Chrissy's eyes went blank at Lucky's spacey, yet accurate and logical conclusion.

"Hmm."

Chrissy suddenly heard a clatter. She instantly switched to a defensive mode, snapping her jaws at the air.

"What was that!? Who's there!?" Chrysalis swerved her neck from side to side, looking for a potential intruder. No pony was going to get Lucky while she was here!

"Lucky, stay right there. If you see anypony you don't recognize, without hesitating, scream."

Chrissy walked over to the cabinets, leaving Lucky alone with her gyro. Using her highly sensitive Changeling senses, she quickly pinpointed the disturbance as having come from the kitchen. She started opening the cabinets, prying through them, thinking somepony who was here that shouldn't have been was hiding in one. Her suspicious was seemingly confirmed when she heard a whimpering in one of the higher-up cabinets she hadn't looked into.

"A-ha!" Chrissy boasted, swinging the cabinet open. "Found you...Spike!?"

"Ehheh..." Spike chuckled, cramped into the cabinet.

"What are you even doing in there?" The Changeling Queen demanded.

"I was hunting for gems and, uh. got lost. Yeah. That's what happened." Spike half-heartedly explained. It didn't take Twilight's education to figure out he was making that up.

Chrissy started, as if somehow her gaze would make Spike admit what he was really doing. Then, the blindingly obvious answer presented itself to her.

"Oh, no, no. Twilight's been having you spy on me, hasn't she?"

Chrysalis' eyes widened.

"She's been having you spy on me every time I've foalsat, hasn't she?" Chrissy said, sounding hurt and wounded.

"AAAAA!" came from the other room. "CHRISSY!"

Chrissy's head whipped about. "Lucky!?"

Lucky came galloping into the room.

"You said to scream, so I did!"

Lucky ran up to Chrissy and hugged her holed-leg.

"Don't worry, child. The Changeling Queen will protect you!" Chrissy assured her. She pushed Lucky off her legs and took a defensive stance at whatever was about to go through the door.

Two ponies, slightly wobbly in their steps, came into the room, stumbling with a dizziness. Mud was leaking from their heads and bodies. Even Chrissy, as tall as she was, was a little frightened by their alien appearance.

One raised it's hoof and wiped it across it's faces, removing the mud to reveal...Pinkie Pie.

Chrysalis blinked before she figured out what happened. "Let me guess; Rainbow Dash."

"Rainbow Dash." The other one- logic dictates it had to be Twilight- answered. Twilight shook herself to throw some mud off. "Anyways, good news! We talked to Cheerilee, and if we hurry, we can get Lucky into the remaining classes for today!" Twilight turned back towards the door and beckoned Lucky with her hoof. "Come on!"

Lucky looked to Chrysalis, than scampered out after her mama.

After the blood-relative portion of the family had left, Chrissy turned back around to glare at Spike. She frowned, made a disappointed noise, then began a very slow walk towards the door. Spike dared to poke his head out from the cupboard.

"Chrissy? You okay?"

Chrissy turned back around to look at him, than kept on walking with her long neck held low. Spike put a claw to his chin in worry.

* * *

Apple Bloom, her friends, Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo, as well as Pipsqeak and her enemies Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon, took up their seats in the classroom and waited for Cheerilee to walk through the door and announce school is in session. Cheerliee didn't keep them waiting too long, stepping through the door no less than a few seconds after the last foal sat down.

"Good morning, class!" Cheerilee greeted enthusiastically.

"Good morning, Miss Cheerilee!" Said in every student in reply. (They had been well-trained.)

"I have some great news, everypony!" Cheerilee announced. "We might be seeing a new student in here today!"

The class began to murmur and whisper among itself, one circle of friends to the next..

"A new student?" Silver Spoon questioned.

"Does she have her Cutie Mark?" Apple Bloom wanted to know. "Maybe we can get another crusader."

"Blech!" Diamond exclaimed at the idea. "I hope not! We don't need more of your lame-o's running around!"

The Cutie Mark Crusaders glared at Diamond Tiara.

The door was open, showing that the new student had arrived. Twilight and Pinkie stepped through the door. When it became clear only they had entered, they turned back to the door and started saying encouraging words.

"Come on, Lucky. It's okay." Twilight said sweetly.

Lucky put a hoof on the door and peeked inside, taking a scanning glance at the entire crowd to see if any of them looked likely to hurt her. Seemingly concluding they weren't a (significant) threat, Lucky stepped into the room.  
Pinkie jabbed on the back of the neck. "Introduce yourself."

Lucky looked from Pinkie to Twilight, who nodded to reassure her. Lucky cleared her throat.

"Hello." Lucky said shyly. "My name is...Lucky Swirl, and I just got my Cutie Mark today."

Everypony clapped and applauded. Apple Bloom's ears perked up in frustration as she heard Diamond Tiara mutter something about being relieved the new student had her Cutie Mark already so she couldn't be a Crusader.

Cheerilee put a hoof on her forehead and muttered. "Oh! Right...her too. They must be..."

The door opened again, this time revealing a dark blue Earth pony Stallion and a yellow filly with cord like hair.

"Excsuse me." The stallion said. "Is this Cheerilee's classroom?"

"Yes!" Cheerilee answered happily (and quickly...) "Yes it is! I was starting to get worried about you. Okay. Ahem." Cheerilee coughed. "I'm sorry, class, I forgot. When I said 'new student' I meant these two. But Lucky will be joining, so we have TWO new students today! Isn't that exciting!?"

A few foals murmured agreement.

"Now, Lucky Swirl has already introduced herself, and we all know Twilight and Pinkie Pie. Why don't you two introduce yourselves?"

"Um, yes. I'm Orion." The blue stallion said. He gestured to the filly next to him. "This is my charge, Vivian. We recently moved to Ponyville from Trottingham, and I got a job as a waiter here." Apple Bloom whispered to Pipsqueak about Vivian being from the same place.

Vivian looked up at Orion sadly. She hugged his front leg and nuzzled him apologetically, looking sad and pleadful all the while. Twilight was starting to think something was wrong. Did Orion do something to Vivian?

Orion looked at Vivian's soul-crushing expression and bit his lip. Coughing, he corrected himself. "Pardon, my daughter Vivian."

"Vivian, Lucky Swirl, why don't you help each other look for seats?" Cheerilee suggested. Orion approached Twilight to make small talk while both of them encouraged their daughters to take up the teacher's suggestion. Vivian approached Lucky, and the two of them just stared at each other for a moment.

"You're cute!" Lucky blurted out without realizing what she was saying. Twilight, Pinkie and Orion all gave worried glances while the students all burst out laughing. Lucky blushed and covered her mouth with her hooves.

Vivian seemed strangely unaffected. "Vou think I am ...koot? Hov' in'rezting..." She mused in her strange accent. That wasn't a Trottingham accent, wherever it was from.

Vivian and Lucky remained where they were while the giggle fits of the students died down.

"Vell!?" Vivian demanded harshly. "Are vou go'ing zhu zay vith me vhile ve find zeats or juust zay heir blooshing?"

"Blooshing..." Lucky answered delicately. "I mean, blushing."

The students got the giggles again while Vivian imperiously departed for a seat.

"Your daughter seems a bit mean..." Twilight said to Orion.

"Eh. Please forgive her." Orion said in response. "She's had some rough times, and doesn't like...well, people in general. She really is a sweetheart once she opens up."

Twilight 'mm'ed in understanding. "...So! How do you like Ponyville so far?"

"It's nice." Orion said. "Quiet. Humble. There's a lot of plants."

"Isn't it wonderful? I used to live in Canterlot, and it didn't have the flora Ponyville does."

"One of the flowers tried to strangulate me."

"I know! Isn't it fascinating!?"

Orion raised an eyebrow. Not being a researcher himself, he wasn't quite as interested in the properties of strangling plants as Twilight was.

After a moment, Lucky finally composed herself and started weaving her through the tables to find her seat.

"Come sit next to me and Silver Spoon!" Diamond Tiara said when Lucky passed her.

Twilight's eyes widened. There was no way she was going let that spoiled brat poison Lucky's mind. Pinkie wrapped her forelegs around Twilight's neck to keep the latter from charging at Diamond Tiara with a blazing horn.

"Aww, no. Y'all don't want sit next to her." Apple Bloom spoke up. "There's an empty seat between me and Sweetie Belle here."

Diamond Tiara stuck out her tongue. "Ew! No! You don't want to do that. They don't have their Cutie Marks!"

Twilight fumed and fumed and huffed, snorting air out her nose. Pinkie's grip on her was starting to weaken against the unicorn's mounting rage. However, Twilight had no idea how proud Lucky was about to make her.

"...So?"

Diamond Tiara appeared struck dumb by Lucky's question. "S-so you should sit with us instead! You have your Cutie Mark!"

"That makes no sense." Lucky said factually. "I have my Cutie Mark, so I should sit with you two instead of them because they don't?"

"No!" Diamond hissed. "You shouldn't sit with them because they don't have theirs!"

"Becaaause?"

"I, uh...it means they don't have a special talent!"

"Do they not have it, or have they just not found it yet?" Lucky said.

Diamond could only stutter and stammer a few not-quite angry words. (That is, not quite words. They were definitely angry.)

"You know what? I'll think I'll sit with them." Lucky said confidently. She approached the C.M.C's branch of the class, then turned around. "I mean, unless they have some sort of virus that will take away my Cutie Mark and give it them, right?"

At Lucky's mocking joke, everypony laughed. Not just because it was funny, (but that certainly helped) but because it put Diamond Tiara in her place.

As Lucky fit herself into her seat, Vivian took the one Diamond Tiara had been offering. "I zuppoze zince Luckv'e deklined it, thiz zeat zhall ve mine." Vivian glared at Diamond. "Doo not take thiz to mean I ag'ree vith vore anti- Vlank Flank ideology, though."

Twilight and Orion smiled, pleased with their daughters handling of the school bully. Orion turned to leave, but as he did, he caught a glimpse of Pipsqueak.

"...I'm so sorry, Miss Cheerilee, but Vivian and I have to leave now. Something's come up." Orion said. "Come on, Vivian."

Twilight was still unwilling to let Lucky go completely out of her care. Not yet. Not just yet.

"Miss Cheerilee?" Twilight nervously asked. "Would it be all right with you if I helped with today's lecture?"  
Cheerilee smiled. "Of course! Maybe having you here will convince the board to give the school that extra funding. Rather than dirty, no good, doesn't care for its students..." Cheerilee noticed she was receiving awkward glares for her ranting about enemy schools. "Carry on!"

"O...kay." Twilight said.

She turned to the students. "All right, girls and boys! Who here can tell me about chaos theory?"

Lucky raised a hoof.

"Lucky?"

"Was the next lesson you had planned for me before coming here chaos theory?" Lucky asked.

Pinkie gave Twilight a suspicious eye.

"...Yes." Twilight said slowly. "It...was. Okay, forget about it! How about we learn about airships like the one Fancypants has works?"

Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon expressed interest at Fancypants' name being mentioned.

"Excellent!" Twilight grabbed hold of some chalk with her magic and began to draw on the chalkboard an airship reduced to basis geometric shapes. "Now, an airship is made of multiple parts. It works a like your standard navy transport ship-"

The students glared blankly.

"A pirate ship."

"Oooh!"

"There are multiple directions..." Twilight muttered, drawing lines from leading away from the airship. "Instead of left, right, frotn, or down, ships -all kinds- have starboard, port..."

Twilight was just drawing on the blackboard with her chalk when suddenly...

"AAAAAAAHH!"

Twilight felt a pain unlike any she had felt before. It was like something was reaching into, hooked around a major body part, then jerked, trying to remove it from her. Almost like an involuntary action taken to protect the body, Twilight felt like that body part was shooting out a tether that latched onto Pinkie. Pinkie was making the same sounds of pain and discomfort. Both of them fell down, Pinkie on the door frame, Twilight on the floor, the chalk just out of hoof's reach. Clatter came from Cheerilee's desk as she jumped out to help. Lucky Swirl shot out of her seat and dashed towards her mothers' sides.

* * *

Spike stood behind the table, watching Chrissy aimlessly fiddle with the sewing machine.

"Is...everything okay, Chrissy?"

The Changeling Queen continued to ignore him.

Spike belched, green fire coming out of his mouth which turned a letter.

"You'll have Celestia Twilight's out right now..." Chrissy muttered. It was like her heart just wasn't in...anything anymore.

"Uh, maybe not! It says the Princess is sick!"

Chrysalis threw the sewing machine at the words coming out of Spike's mouth. "WHAT!? If My darling Celestia is sick, then I must attend to her! I simply MUST!"

Chrysalis dashed out the door, leaving Spike alone.

* * *

Lucky reached over Twilight's flank. "Mama?...Are you and mommy going to be okay?"

Twilight smiled, even though she was wracked with pain. "I'll be fine, Lucky. I'm ...taking a break, okay? Be good for Cheerilee."

Twilight's eyes quivered at the expression on Lucky's face. Twilight had a tendency to worry, and she really didn't want her job to be taken by Lucky. She didn't want her negative qualities passing down to Lucky, and for Lucky to go through the kind of things Twilight had to go through with her friends.

After a minute, the pain subsided just enough for Twilight and Pinkie to stand. Twilight started trying to finished the drawing on the chalkboard. Pinkie wrapped her foreleg around Twilight's neck.

"Twilight Sparkly, you really should come home with me."

"Sure." Twilight said. "Just let me finish this diagram..."

"No, no, I kinda want us to go now."

"Pinkie's right, Twilight." Cheerilee said. "You shouldn't work like this when you're getting mysterious pains like the one you've had."

Twilight snorted, focusing on using her magic to drag the chalk along the board.

The door to the classroom suddenly burst open.

"Twilight!" Applejack snapped. "Can y'all come 'ere? Fluttershy and I need yer help wit' sumthun."

"Can it wait?" Twilight questioned with a hint of impatience forming in her voice.

"Uh, no."

"Okay..." Twilight levitated the chalk onto Cheeliee's dress, gave Lucky a good-bye kiss on the cheek and left with Pinkie to see what was troubling Applejack and Fluttershy. Applejack took a detour to check on Apple Bloom.

* * *

Twilight and Pinkie's eyes and mouth were wide and open with disbelief.

"Let me make sure I heard you correctly...you're saying Fluttershy is a some sort of Changeling...off-shoot that had kept it hidden until recently, when another pony of the same named Shimmy came into town?" Twilight summed up.

"Let ME make I heard correctly!" Pinkie interjected. "You two went on a practice date!?"

"Uh, yeah. Can we focus on how to git rid of Shimmy, now?"

"Well, are we sure he's here to try to win back Fluttershy?" Twilight questioned.

"Well...no. He jus' told me he was tryin' to get Fluttershy back into the fold, wutever that means."

Fluttershy whimpered. "Ooh...it means he wants to go back and hang out with 'cubi again." Fluttershy shuddered. "I don't want to go back there. I don't want to be a demon again. I mean, I still am a demon, but that's different-no, what I mean is-"

Fluttershy completely broke down, grabbing Twilight by the withers and shaking her.

"DON'T MAKE ME GO BACK THERE, TWILIGHT!"

Twilight removed Fluttershy's hooves from her personal space and try to calm her down. "Calm down, Fluttershy. We won't send you back to anywhere. Why don't you go out and keep to your normal routine while avoiding Shimmy while Pinkie, Applejack and I figure out what to do?"

"Okay..." Fluttershy said with a weak nod. Still quivering, Fluttershy slowly stepped out the door of the library. Twilight and company could hear her crying from the other side of it.

"Wut are we gonna do?"

Twilight 'hmm'ed. "Ah-ha!" Twilight reached into her tail and pulled out her most favorite fruit of all: A kiwi.

"A kiwi?" Applejack questioned. "Ah don't that'll really solve anythin', Twi'."

"Kiwis solve everything!" Twilight hissed. "But you're probably right." Twilight and tucked the kiwi away back into her tail.

"Twi..." Applejack said. "Ah'm a mite concerned. Ah think Shimmy comin' round has brought back memories. Ah think one of those memories was what soul tasted like. Ya know, since she tried to kiss me outta mine...

Twilight 'hmm'ed again. "Ah-ha!"

Finally! Some time ago, Twilight had found a very menacing book secluded away on the shelf of her precious library. The book was omnious and mysterious, covered in chains. Pinkie had apparently known about it containing magic related to souls that ponies shouldn't know. This opportunity was the perfect exscuse to crack it open and find out what secrets laid within...

Twilight levitated the book off the shelf. "A little of this here, a little of that there..." Using her magic, Twilight managed to pull the lock undone. The chains dropped to the floor and shrieked like an animal being unjustly struck.

"That's...friendly." Pinkie remarked.

Twilight grimaced, but swallowed her courage and proceeded to read into the book. Twilight flipped pages upon pages, speed-reading until she could find something to help. But as she got through the pages, it became clear that..

"There's nothing in here that's relevant!" Nothing that would help Fluttershy, at least. She put the black book of doom back onto its shelf and began flipping apart her entire collection of books.

"Come on, come on..." Twilight mumbled. There had to be something that could help in one of these- Ah-ha!

"Got it! It in says in this there's a melody that no demon can resist if it's played!"  
"All right." Applejack said. "Wut is it?"

Twilight scanned over the book again.

"It...doesn't say."

Applejack and Pinkie frowned.

"SPIKE!" Twilight shouted.

"Yes ma'am!" Spike said, saluting.  
"Make a letter to the Princess." Twilight instructed. "Dear Princess Celestia, my friend, Fluttershy, has come under attack by a Succubus. We are unable to locate anything that could help except for a note in my books saying there's song that demons are unable to resist, but we can't find in the book. Can you help? Your Faithful Student, Twilight Sparkle."

Spike sent it.

* * *

Miles and miles (and a story or two in the air) away, Princess Luna was getting ready to enjoy herself. A bath had been drawn up for her, filled with her favorite soap from before her exile- Celestia's servants had gone to great lengths to find a lasting example of it to use. Luna told them to extract a sample and just recreate the formula. Which...would've been significantly less of a hassle for them. The poor dears.

Just as Luna was about to remove her royal mantle, a guard stepped into the room.

"Yes!?" Luna demanded. "This hath best be important! We were about to enjoy our bath with our favorite soap!"

"It is." The guard assured her. "Twilight Sparkle has sent a missive for the Princess, but..."

Luna had been informed Celestia had...fallen ill today. She didn't pay it much mind. Everypony has an off day. But Twilight had sent a letter...

"Give it to us. We shalt deal with it."

The guard surrendered the letter to Luna's magic and left.

Luna left her warm bath and advanced onto Celestia's private room. No pony was supposed to go to the Princess without going through a through search and check...

But she was her sister. She was allowed to see her own sister!

"Sister?" Luna said softly as she nudged the door open. ""A letter from Twilight Sparkle has arrived. Can thoust reply?"

Celestia shook her head from side-to-side.

"Would thoust...prefer we answer it?"

Celestia nodded.

Luna drew out from the room and on the the other side of the door, unfurled the letter and read it. "Hmm..."

Luna conjured up a piece of parchment and a quill and began to write a response.

_To Our Dear Friend, Twilight Sparkle,_  
_Celestia is occupied at the moment, and we have received her consent to answer your query instead. We knoweth thy song of which thoust speaks. We have included its notes on thy back this letter, but we must insist thou doth not read it due to prior history between thoust and ourself._

_Trust us,_

_Thy Friend, Princess Luna._

Luna wrote the song on the opposing end of the scroll, then touched the paper to her horn, turning into a black firey mist that would turn emerald once it reached Spike's belly.

* * *

Chrysalis rubbed Celestia's hoof sadly, as the mysterious gray liquid contined to flow from her beautiful eye.

"You seem down, my love..-ly slave." Celestia observed.

Chrysalis sighed. "Twilight's been having Spike watch while I foalsit."

"...Oh." Celestia said. "How saddening. I truly thought we had removed all our ills and moved from past grievances."

"She made this storage of love for my Changelings to feed on..." Chrysalis said. "But she still doesn't trust me, even after all this time. Ever after letting me watch and bond with her foal."

"I will talk to her..." Celestia said weakly.

Chrysalis curled her hooves around Celestia's. "Rest, my mistress."

* * *

After sending Pinkie and Applejack out to take the song to deal with Shimmy, Twilight was left full of questions. What was that song? Why did Luna not want her to read it?

Unable to think of an answer, or any way for her to address the issue with Luna directly without feeling like she was stepping out of line, Twilight turned to her go-to for when she could answer questions. Books!

She decided to take another look at the black book she pulled out earlier today. She was curious to know what it had inside and wanted to read it without the pressure of helping a friend.

She opened the book and read the foreword. It was written by Princess Celestia! How did she miss that earlier!? It made sense, given the author was listed as Star Swirl the Bearded, but...

_To any whom would so foolish as to taunt the powers inscribed in this book, I warn you. This book contains evil within. The magic is not to be trifled with or taken lightly. Simply reading it will cause temptations in your mind that will drive you to insane depths._  
_If you do not feel deterred by this warning, press on. But you were warned._

Twilight blinked as she realized...she had already read the book. It was a speed-read, sure, but the foreword's warning said 'simply reading it' : Certainly nothing about whether or not speed-reading actually counted.

Twilight gulped. "Uh-oh..."

Well...since she was doomed anyway, she might as well delve in...

* * *

**Author's Notes for "Learning" **

**Neeeaaaah... ****The spell checking and copy editing may be a bit lacking here...had stuff on my mind while preparing to upload this.  
**

**So, those of you that read "Eviler Than Thou" will notice a change in Vivian's accent. I tried to make more of an _actual_ accent, rather than what I was doing before where I just replaced certain letters. Doesn't make much of an accent, does it?  
**

******I'd say _more_ about what you see in this chapter...what you see in the previous chapter that you see AGAIN here...but, uh, I don't want to spoil anything on accident. NO SPOILERS FOR YOU.**  



	6. Silence

**Disclaimer: ****My Little Pony is the properties of Hasbro. This is a non-profit work made by an independent contractor outside of the official company's notice intended for non-profit entertainment and speculative purposes only.**  


* * *

_Some Days Ago..._

Big Macintosh poked his head out the door of the barn, trying to see if there was any potential witnesses for what he was about to do. It was embarrassing to do this, but he had to.

Seeing nopony around, he clip-clopped out the barn, shutting the door behind. A tool chest was wrapped around his neck above his collar, resting on his chest. The contents of which were his most beloved and secret possession.

Twilight's Smarty Pants doll.

He really did love the doll, with no magic controlling his mind. But that incident with Gabby Gums... he couldn't very well keep it now. He had met with Twilight and talked about it, and he was going to return it to her today.

Thankfully, nopony saw him headed towards the library. Once there, he knocked on the door, answered by Twilight.

"Oh, hello, Big Macintosh!" Twilight greeted. "What brings you here?"

Big Macintosh cleared his throat and gestured to the toolbox. Twilight raised an eyebrow, not understanding.

"Oh!" Twilight exclaimed, realization having struck. "Yeah...okay."

Big Macintosh unlocked the toolbox and carefully lifted Smarty Pants out, hoofing her over to her original owner.

"Thank you." Twilight nodded and closed the door before anypony could walk by and see what they were doing.

Big Macintosh turned and trotted away.

He was barely a few steps away when he heard the library door forcefully jerk back open and Twilight speak in the most chilling, steely, intimidating he had ever heard that even a big stallion like him trembling in his horseshoes.

"Take her back."

Big Macintosh nervously looked over his shoulder, Twilight standing with the door open with an angry look on her face and Smarty Pants in her hoof.

"Eee...now, Miss Twilight, we had an understandin', didn't we?"

"We did." Twilight said bluntly, sounding like a soulless corporate mare. "Something has changed..._take her back!_"

"Eee...nope." Big Macintosh told her starkly, trying to tell her this was the end of it for him.

"_Hmph!_ Fine. But don't be surprised if she's waiting for you when you get home!"

Twilight slammed the door behind her. Big Macintosh, as analytical as he was, decided to press his ear to the door and try to hear what was going on. It sounded like Twilight was trying to soothe somepony...

Big Macintosh shook his head and went on his way home. His hope was that he would've washed himself clean of anything to do with Smarty Pants, and that Twilight was just being weird.

He got back home, and everything was fine. Applejack was bucking. Apple Bloom was having trouble with her schoolwork and needed his help.

And then it was nighttime, and he was getting ready for bed. He brushed his teeth, combed his mane and trotted to his room.

Lying in the darkness, half-tilted onto his pillow with her arms posed over like she had been waiting up for him for much longer than she should've had...was Smarty Pants.

"Ehh...hello, Smarty Pants." Big Macintosh greeted nervously. He shifted his eyes, poked his head out the door, then closed it before climbing into his own bed.

As he pulled his covers up over him, Big Macintosh felt an uncontrollable urge swell inside him, and he embraced Smarty Pants in his big strong hooves, filled with remorse.

"Ah'm sorry Ah tried to give y'all away, Smarty Pants."

He nuzzled her.

* * *

**Componydum**

**Chapter V**

**Silence**

**Episode Synopsis: When Cadence is suddenly elated to hear Big Macintosh visiting, Shining Armor suspects an affair, but he may find the truth significantly more disturbing!**

* * *

_Now..._

In their house in Canterlot, Cadence held a duster in her wing. She was dusting off a desk Shining Armor used for work as Captain. There was a knock on the door, causing Cadence to jump. She wasn't expecting any guests today.

She answered the door, the base of her horn growing warm as she prepared a defensive spell, just in case.

She didn't think it would be necessary once she opened the door, as it was a pegasus guard on the other side. Cadence, minding her manners, saluted.

"Hello, soldier. What brings you to my house?"

The solider, in turn, bowed before the princess of love. "We dug this letter out of the trash. It was intended for you, but you told us to throw it away. We've reexamined the dates, and concluded that was in fact the Changeling Queen at the time."

"Aww...you went through all the trouble of digging it out of the trash?" Cadence cooed. "That's so sweet." Cadence took the letter and smelled it. "You even spray some cologne on it so I wouldn't be repulsed by the smell! Here, let me give you something for your trouble..."

"That's really not necessary..."

"I insist!"

Cadence grabbed the Guard to hold him still and gave him a little peck on the cheek. The guard blushed.

"There." Cadence said. "A special kiss for a special guard."

Cadence covered her mouth as she realized what she just said.

"Don't-don't take that the wrong way!"

"Yes, Your Highness...I wasn't going to. I just hope the Captain doesn't learn about this and order my head on a plate..."

The Guard turned around and galloped off into the distance. Hopefully before Shining Armor got anywhere near the area. Cadence unfolded the letter and scanned it over. The smile on her face grew progressively wider and wider as she got further down, eventually resulting in an unstoppable "SQUEEEE!" when she had reached the end. She squealed in delight and walked in place. "Oh! Oh! This is wonderful! I'm so happy for her!"

There was another knock on the door, interrupting Cadence's moment of happiness. "Now who could that be this time?"

She pulled open the door to see the same guard as before, still looking slightly embarrassed.

"Ahem...Sorry to disturb you again so soon, but we've received another letter with the signature as the one I just gave you, only this one arrived only just today."

"Let me see!" Cadence snatched the letter from his hoof, and had nearly torn into it when she realized how rude she was just now. "Oh, I'm sorry. It's just... these are from a really good friend of mine, and it's so nice to know she's doing well."

"I can imagine. Now, if you'll exscuse me, I'll be off...and hopefully, I won't have any more letters for you today!"

"Hopefully!" Cadence waved him off with a smile before reading the second letter. The smile on her face was even bigger then the one she had for the first. And the squee...

Well...

"_SSQQQQQQUUUUEEEEEEEE!_"

Shining Armor burst into the room, slamming the door open, his helmet slightly askew, having rushed over from what he was doing at the sound of his wife screaming.

"Cadence, are you all right!? I heard screaming!"

"Um, yes. I'm fine. Big Macintosh is going to be coming over later."

Shining Armor raised an eyebrow. "Mac coming over...is cause for screaming?"

"Well...he's going to be doing something special for me and a friend of mine." Cadence explained.

"Uh-huh..." Shining said, still not sure just what justified the incredibly loud squeal his wife had just made. "Well, I was in the middle of some Royal Guard stuff, so I have to get back. Sorry to leave you so soon, but duty calls."

Cadence smiled and nodded. "I know."

Shining Armor uneasily closed the door.

* * *

In the royal barracks, Shining Armor's gathered troops for the day were organized into a line, a few of of them levitating tennis balls and raquets into places where they would be hidden.

The Guards had learned how to balance their time during the the course of Shining Armor's reign. When the Captain heard his wife's squeal, he took off blazing. In the time it took him to leave, they had managed to put their drills on hold and set up a tennis match. And before he could get back, they would be able to put their tennis things away and get right back to their drills like absolutely nothing changed. They were particularly concerned this time, as shortly before Twilight and Pinkie got married, Shining had some issues with a tennis match he played.

Shining came trotting back into the barracks' courtyard, where he was pleased and proud to see his loyal guards exactly where he left them.

"Good to see none of you abandoned your post!" He exclaimed.

"Yes, sir." A male unicorn exchanged knowing glances with the female pegasus on his right.

"Sorry about leaving you so suddenly, but you know..."

"Hey, your wife was screaming. We get it, sir." A troop assured him. "Oh, was she okay, by the way?"

"Yeah...she said was. But she also said Big Macintosh was coming over, and she was really happy about it...said he was doing something special for a friend of hers..."

"Big Macintosh?" A male guard questioned. "That drop-dead gorgeous stallion from the Apple Family?"

Shining Armor glared at him dubiously, and he expected the rest of the troupe to do the same, but instead, they all either muttered something in agreement if they didn't answer yes to his question.

"Sounds to me like your wife having an affair." One guard at the far end of the line said. NOW everypony glared dubiously.

"Well, think about it." He said, trying to explain himself. "What does a pony who has affair do? Make excuse! Believable excuses that let the original spouse think nothing's wrong! Look, since she mentioned another pony, he has no reason to be suspicious, right? Cos Big Macintosh is doing something for her friend. I say he should ask that 'friend'!...You know, just to be sure."

All the other guards started murmuring and discussing amongst themselves the validity of his reasoning.

"Hey! Enough!" Shining put his hoof down, slamming into the ground. "My wife is not a cheater, and the next pony to so much as suggest the idea will be scrubbing stalls! Now, get back to today's drill!"

The assembled guards saluted, stunned into silence by Shining's outburst, and proceeded to run around the track.

Watching as his soldiers ran around in loops, Shining snorted. How dare they. How _dare_ they. Hadn't they heard what his wife had go to through to get married to him? The kind of suffering she had to endure? The idea that she was cheating on him was- was absurd! The very notion...

Of course, as is the norm, when an horrific, unthinkable idea is put into a pony's mind, they tend to start obsessing over it. What if Cadence was cheating on him? What if he had done something- without even realizing it- that was so bad, so terrible, so...repulsive that it pushed Cadence over that line and made her willing to cheat in spite of all their trouble?

Throughout the rest of the drill and most of the day, all the guards noticed Shining Armor's change in attitude, and how solemn he seemed...

None of them had the guts to say anything, however. Which was smart, seeing as one of their member had _caused the problem in the first place._

* * *

Later, after the day's drills were finished, Shining placed his crested helmet on his table in the captain's office, the events of the day still playing in his mind. The words of his guards still echoing in his head...

He looked down at his helmet and placed his hoof on it, observing his reflection in the helmet's gleam and saw just how pitiful he was right now. HIs eyebrows furrowed. He was stronger than this! He was better than to wallow around miserably in whatever ponies wallow in (grass?) wondering if his wife was cheating on him! No! He had the strength, the WILL, the _integrity_, to change up to his own house, and demand to know if she was!

And that was exactly what he was going to do. He dashed out his office and the barracks and went charging across Canterlot until he reached his house.

Once he got there, however, his resolve left him. Here he was, about to charge straight into his house, and accuse his wife who he loved of having an affair. What kind of husband did that?

But then...he heard laughing coming from the door, and he felt offended. He swatted the door open and stomped inside. Cadence and Big Macintosh were having tea on the dining table, and they were both stunned at Shining's forceful entrance.

"Something wrong, Shining Armor?" Cadence asked politely, the steam of her tea flailing about.

"I talked to my guards today." Shining explained, sounding a little harsher than he meant to. "And they made a pretty convincing argument that you were cheating on me with Big Macintosh!"

"C-cheating on you?" Cadence stammered. She and Big Macintosh exchanged looks. A moment of awkward silence ensued, Shining still angty, Macintosh flustered, and Cadence bewildered. It was interrupted by a hilarous uproar of laughter, coming from none other than Cadence herself.

"AH-HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! Cheating! Hahaha-haaa!...W-with Big Macintosh. Oh! Oh-ho...that's...ha." Cadence took in a deep breath and patted her hoof on the table, trying to calm down. "Okay...okay, I think I'm done." Cadence rolled her eyes. "Aannyways... no, I'm not cheating on you with Big Macintosh. What did your guards say that made you think that!?"

"But-but..." Shining stammered, anger deflated and now more concerned with trying to keep from making a mule out of himself. "Just what exactly is Big Macintosh doing for your 'special friend'?"

"Carrying her." Cadence answered.

Shining's mouth stopped working. "...What?"

"Big Macintosh is carrying my special friend." Cadence explained. "Here. Big Macintosh, why don't you let Shining Armor see her?"

"Eeeokay." Big Macintosh drawled. He scooted around his chair to reveal Smarty Pants sitting on the table, roughly next to Big Macintosh's tea plate.

"Smarty Pants?" Shining questioned, walking up to the table. "Twiley's old doll is your special friend?"

Cadence nodded. "Say hello to each other, both of you."

"Uhhh...Hello. Smarty Pants." Shining Armor said uncertainly, waving his hoof.

Smarty Pants remained motionless on the table. Shining questioned if she was really going to say hi, or if Cadence and Big Macintosh were just sharing the same delusion. He shifted his gaze between Cadence and Big Macintosh.

"She says she's happy to see you again after all these years." Big Macintosh told him, somewhat giving Shining the creeps. He didn't notice Cadence's expression grow concerned. She, in fact, left the table before either stallion realized she had left them.

"Uh...it's good to see you too?" Shining Armor greeted.

Big Macintosh cracked a small smile. "Eh-heh...sorry fer being so rude to ya, but could Ah talk to Smarty Pants alone?"

"O...kay." Shining Armor assured him. Rather than have him leave the room, Big Macintosh bit Smarty Pants on the back of her neck and left the room.

Shining Armor rested his knee on the table, utterly confused and having absolutely no idea what to think about any of this.  
Cadence came back, still looking concerned about something.  
"Hey." Shining said, seeing his wife's sad expression. "What's up?"

"Oh...nothing." Cadence assured him. He was not fooled.

"Come on, Cadence." Shining said softly. "You can tell me anything."

Cadence looked away.

Shining, seeing he wasn't getting anywhere, decided to change the subject. "Soo...are you delusional, and Big Macintosh runs with it, or is Big Macintosh delusional, and you run with it?"

"Uh, well..."

"Eee-heey!"

The married couple whipped their heads around to see Big Macintosh poking his head out of the door to the next room over. "Cadence, could you come over and talk to Smarty Pants wit me?"

"Sure." Cadence answered. Shining glared as Cadence walked towards the door.

"Shining, I'm not cheating on you. I promise."

Shining was clearly not satisfied.

"Cross my heart and hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye!" Cadence made the nessecary motions. Shining still wasn't satified, as he saw the Pinkie Promise as a childish quirk of Pinkie Pie's, rather then the soul-binding demonic pact it truly was.

Cadence sighed and shook her head. If Shining wasn't going to be happy with that, then there was nothing she could do. She went into the room with Big Macintosh.

* * *

Cadence closed the door quietly behind her, then let totally loose on Big Macintosh.

"Why isn't Smarty Pants talking to Shining Armor!?"

Big Macintosh shrugged. "Ah don't know. She won't tell me. Ah was hoping y'all be able to put it together."

Big Macintosh held up the doll of the hour, her mouth stitching still, in total silence.

"Smarty Pants, why don't you talk to Shining Armor?" Cadence cupped Smarty Pants' chin in the hopes of comforting the doll and getting her to open up.

Cadence and Big Macintosh looked at each other, both concerned over Smarty Pants' total silence.

"Don't worry." Cadence grabbed Big Macintosh's hoof. "I've sent a letter to Twilight Sparkle. She'll be right over, and we can get to the bottom of this."

"Ah hope so...Ah want to know why she won't talk to him, especially after it's been so long..."

"I do too..." Cadence held her hoof out. "May I?"

"Eeeyup." Big Macintosh answered. He raised Smarty Pants into the air and handed her over to Cadence. Cadence's horn lit up, pulling a hairbrush out from a nearby cabinet, and she started brushing through Smarty Pant's hair.

"Now, Smarty Pants...why don't you tell us what's wrong?"

Cadence brushed and stroked Smarty Pants' hair, and basically did whatever else she could do to make the doll relax, be it a tea party with some old dolls of Cadence's or giving her a 'bath' and 'massage' combo. When even after all that, she still would not talk, Cadence and Big Macintosh began to feel very defeated.

Cadence sighed. "What's wrong, Smarty Pants? Did Shining Armor do something?"

* * *

Shining Armor rested his knees on the table, hind hoof tapping impatiently. He didn't like how long he was being kept waiting. As long it was taking, Shining Armor started to wonder...how long did a session of making-out usually take for him and Cadence? Would Big Macintosh have faster than him, or slower?  
Looking up at the clock, and seeing how little time had actually passed, Shining felt a little silly. A pony's sense of time is often diluted when they're tense and upset about the possibility of something.

But yeah...it was a bit...no, no, he was going to be honest with himself. It was outright stupid to think Cadence would've cheated on him in the first place. Why had he listened to his guards about this!? This was the stupidest, dumbest, most idiotic thing he had done since...since... since just before Twiley's wedding!

Shining glanced at the clock again. Then he glanced at the door Cadence and Big Macintosh disappeared behind.

Maybe I should check... He thought to himself. Just to be sure.

He got off the table, dusted some dust bunnies on his chest off, and walked up to the door. He raised a hoof to knock on it, then faltered at the last second. He held his hooves and tried to take in a deep breath and relax. This time, he succeded in knocking on the door.

"Cadence, sweetie? You okay in there? You and Big Macintosh have been in there awhile...alone." He emphasized the last word. He heard a frustrated scoff from behind the door.

"Really, Shining Armor? I Pinkie Promised! Is that not good enough for you!?"

"Well...no!"

Cadence swatted the door open, in a fantasic echo Shining's earlier action of the same. "Really? Do you even know what Pinkie does to ponies who break their Pinkie Promise?"

"What?"

"Things." Cadence hissed. "Terrible, horrible things that will make your worst nightmares seem paltry in comparsion!"

"My worst nightmare?" Shining put a hoof to his mouth. "Hmm...I'd have to say the one where I found you and Chrysalis cuddling on Twilight's bed, and you and Twilight tried to shove Big Macintosh on to me." Shining put both hooves over his mouth, realizing he had said that out loud. He and Cadence looked at each other.

"Yes!" Cadence rasped. "Pinkie will do things so much more terrible than that! Beyond comparison!"

Big Macintosh's head appeared over Cadence's in the doorway. "Eeesaay...is that why y'all asked not to call y'all 'Shiny'?"

"Yes..." Shining embarrasedly admitted. "So, what's taking you two so long in there?"

"Uuuh...well..." Cadence stuttered. She didn't want to hurt Shining's feelings with the knowledge that Smarty Pants wasn't talking to him on purpose.

A knock on the door saved Cadence in just the nick of time.

"I'll get that." Shining walked away and opened the door, revealing a very concerned looking Twilight Sparkle.

"Twiley!" Shining exclaimed, elated to his little sister. "What brings you here?"

"Cadence wrote me a letter." Twilight coldly pushed Shining to the side and walked in. She looked around the room, and seemed upset that she couldn't find what she was looking for. She rounded on Shining Armor. "Where is she?"

"Who?" Shining asked in confusion. "Cadence?"

"Smarty Pants!" Twilight snapped.

"I...it..." Shining stammered, now more confused than he had been through the entire rest of the day- and that is a lot of confusion.

"Here!" Cadence came tumbling into the room with Smarty Pants hanging from her hoof. "She's right here!"

"Ah!" Twilight visibly brightened at the sight of her doll. She took her from Cadence with her magic, and proceeded to nuzzle Smarty Pants' cheek. "It's good to see you again, Smarty Pants."

Hmh. Cadence couldn't help but notice that was exactly what Smarty Pants had said to Shining.

"Mmm...now." Twilight held her former doll up in her hooves. "What's so wrong that you just absolutely will not to talk to Shining Armor about it?"

Everypony's ears flattened, each of them straining to hear if they could catch Smarty Pants' answer.

"Uh-huh." Twilight said at last. "All right. I think I can manage that." Twiight turned away from her doll. "I need everpony to leave the room and give me and Smarty Pants absolute privacy. Can we do that?"

Shining went "uhhh..." but Cadence and Big Macintosh nodded enthustisaclly. Cadence grabbed her husband by the tail and dragged back into the room she and Big Macintosh had talking to Smarty Pants in. Once inside, though, Shining huddled by the door and tried to spy on his sister through the keyhole.

"Shining, what are you doing?" Cadence asked, slightly disapproving of it.

"I'm trying to spy on Twiley and get an understanding of just what the hay is going on!" Shining snapped.

"But Twilight said she needed absolute privacy..."

"Relax...she's not going to know I'm here."

In the other room, Shining could see through the keyhole as Twilight set Smarty Pants down on the table and start talking with her. Twilight's body language suggested it was anything too serious or important. More like catching up with a lost friend after a long period without contact. Then she turned towards the door and walked up to the keyhole, causing Shining to wonder if maybe she know he was there.

"Absolute privacy, Shining!"

"Ooh...okay. Wow." Shining removed himself from the keyhole, and could hear Twilight's hoofsteps as she walked back away. "Twiley's gotten really observant since she moved to Ponyville."

"Actually, Ah think that was Smarty Pants who found y'all out." Big Macintosh said.

"Yes." Cadence agreed. "Smarty Pants has a thing where she can do that..."

Shining bit his lip, trying to reign in his anger, but he couldn't take it any more.  
"What is with you two!? And Twiley! Acting like that old, beaten-up, worn out old doll is alive like another pony!"

"You said 'old' twice." Cadence pointed out.

"Yeah, well, I don't care right now!" Shinng retorted. "I've a bad day since I went back to the barracks, and I want to- I DEMAND to know what's going on!"

Cadence grimaced and exhaled sharpy. "You're not gonna like this, but...Smarty Pants can talk. I know it sounds crazy, but she can. She only does to ponies she likes, though; me, Big Macintosh, and Twilight Sparkle. We're concerned about the fact you can't hear her, and she talks to you through one of us instead."

Shining raised an eyebrow.

"HA! Yeah, okay. Fine. I-I'll play along and pretend Smarty Pants can talk." The guard-captain scoffed.

"Okay, everypony!" Twilight called from the other room. "You can come out now."

The three of them looked to each other for permission before exiting the room.

"I figured it out." Twilight explained, a hoof wrapped around Smarty Pants affectionately. "How many of you know I used to have a crush on Cadence?"

"A...crush?" Cadence parroted. Shining grimaced, not wanting Twilight to know he knew that-or how he knew that.

"Yes. A crush. Smarty Pants thinks I should've had a chance to -and this a qoute, mind you- 'court' Cadence before Shining Armor proposed. But I've talked to her, and she'll work on getting over it." Twilight turned to Smarty Pants and nudged her in the wither. "Say hello to Shining, Smarty Pants."

Shining kept his ears open for a response, but he got nothing. Twilight frowned at her doll.

"Ugh! She's in one of her moods..." Twilight said exasperatedly. "One day, she'll talk to you, B.B.B.F.F. Is there anything else you need before I go?"

Cadence's mouth flopped like a fish out of water gasping for air. "You...you had a crush on me?"

"I did." Twilight answered. She took hold of Cadence's hoof and patted it. "But don't worry. I love Pinkie Pie now. And there is nothing anypony can do to ever change that." She turned to Shining. "Same goes for you."

"Heh...all right then. I...still don't know what's going on, exactly, but...love ya, Twiley."

Shining Armor and Twilight hugged each other before Twilight waved goodbye and left.

"So..." Shining drawled. He pointed at the table. "Tea, anypony?"

Big Macintosh and Cadence shared a chuckle. "Tea."

And so, the four of them, Smarty Pants included, all sat down and had tea, attempting to absolve some of the awkwardness they had found themselves consumed in.

* * *

It was late at night in the Canterlot castle, and Cadence had been invited- somewhat mysteriously- onto the balcony just a tower away from where Luna kept a significant amount of her work.

Stepping out onto the balcony, she was greeted to the sight of a rather down Blueblood on his haunches, staring out at the star-filled sky.

"You came." Blueblood said, sounding more polite than he had ever been. "I wasn't expecting you to actually come."

Cadence smiled sweetly. "Of course I did."

As with Luna, Cadence actually had a different relationship to Blueblood that was a closely guarded secret. In the public eye, Luna was Cadence's aunt. In truth, Luna was Cadence's mother. In the public eye, Blueblood and Cadence were cousins.

This may sound ridiculous, but...in truth...

Cadence opened her wing and wrapped it around him. "What's wrong?"

Blueblood sighed. "I told Chrysalis about her being a Regress...Aunt Celestia cast a memory charm on her, and you already got onto me for it, but Luna found out recently and had to give it to me again."

Cadence sighed and shook her head.

"Son...don't take it personally. My mother just reacts to this kind of thing without thinking about it."

"Mmm..." Blueblood nuzzled Cadence. "I heard your current husband asked you about whether or not you wanted a foal. You said no, didn't you? Was it...because of me?"

"No, Blueblood." Cadence stroked his mane to comfort him. "It was because of how many ponies I've foalsat for."

"Cadence! Blueblood!"

The two of them turned around to see Luna stomping towards them. Pipsqueak was curled up on Luna's wing, alternating between being awake and being...not. The Headless Horse's fire would occasionally spark out from his hooves.

"Hello, mother."

"Hello...grandmother."

"Silence, both of thou!" Luna snapped. "We have urgent information, and it must be dealt with swiftly! The Grey Sisters outrage over Celestia's allowing of Chrysalis to stay is growing, and we must make our move!"

"Right!" Cadence and Blueblood saluted. "...What is our move?"

"We must find a filly." Luna answered. "She is of absolute importance to our plans if we are to...undo the curses Celestia has cast. Find her. We haveth been told she resembles a fictional character named Daring Do."

"Her name?"

"Vivian... Vaccine." Luna said with a pause. She nudged Pipsqueak with her nose. Pipsqueak woke up, saluted, and hopped off the Princess' wing, igniting himself in the Horse's blue flame.

Luna started flapping her wings, air swirling around her in currents as she rose through the air. Once she had reach a suitable height off the ground, her eyes turned white with power and she pointed her hoof towards the stars, the shadow of Nightmare Moon rising up on the castle wall behind her.

"**Go forth, my children! Do not fail!**"

Blueblood, Cadence, and Pipsqueak/The Headless Horse saluted before going forth. The Headless Horse turned into a fiery wisp and flew over the balcony and Cadence flew off into the distance while Blueblood galloped back into the castle.

Luna watched them all go with her empowered, blank white eyes. But even as magic surged through them, it was easy to see the worry and concern in her eyes.

"**Do not fail...and, please, don't get hurt.**"

* * *

**Author's Notes for "Silence"**

**...Cadence is Blueblood's mother! Totally not ridiculous. Well, it's a hipster thing. Some ponies make Luna Blueblood's mother. So, I, instead, have made Cadence his mother. **

**Hey!...Stuff from ACITA! **

**As I was working on this chapter, it occurred to me that...nothing _important_ happens. Nothing in here will be relevant later. There's nothing in it that's going to affect future chapters.**

**So, I realized I had to do one of two things: Either, change my plans so that something IS important. Or discard this chapter entirely.**

**Instead, I've just tacked some vague foreshadowing onto the end there...bleh. Probably not the best course of action, given how long this last updated, but...  
**

**Oh, yeah. I've already committed this and some other stories of mine to Twilight/Pinkie shipping, but Twilight/Cadence should TOTALLY BE A THING! It certainly makes more sense than Shining Armor/Rarity, I tells ya! *Cough* Looking at you, NocturneD! *Cough*  
**

**Changed the summary somewhat on this update. Here's the original, for posterity: **

_It's been a while since anything major has happened in the life of Twilight and friends, but all that is about to change. As Twilight's world is rocked upside-down by the most unlikeliest of ponies, she will prove herself as a good mother. All mothers say they'd tear the world apart for their filly, but what marks a mother as 'good'...is having the gall to back those words up._

**I said I would tell what story elements I took from other stories on the sight, but we're up to chapter 6 now, and the only story element I took from another story I can't tell you because it would be a spoiler! Eeesh... then again, there are some elements that more inspired by 'general' story -uh, thingies- than specific stories I've read.  
**


	7. Asphyxiate

**Disclaimer: My Little Pony is the properties of Hasbro. This is a non-profit work made by an independent contractor outside of the official company's notice intended for non-profit entertainment and speculative purposes only.  
**

* * *

The stars shone brilliantly up in the sky above Ponyville. Rarity threw herself over her ship's window to admire them for a moment. Just a little bit, before she helped Sweetie Belle gather her things before Rarity sent her little sister home.

Rarity was closer to the night than most ponies. How could she not be, being one of the Elements of Harmony who brought the Night Princess back from the brink of evil?

"Thank you for another beautiful night, Princess Luna." Rarity whispered silently, hooves clasped like she was praying.

There were a few ponies who appreciated Luna after all...

Rarity waved a hoof at the moon before she left the window. Like Luna could her through the silver orb's reflection. Chuckling to herself, She chided herself for thinking so childishly.

"Sweetie Belle, do you have everything?" Rarity called. Almost instantly after she asked that question, she saw some of Sweetie Belle's clothes hastily draped over her kitchen sink.

"Almost!" Sweetie Belle answered, the sound of a ruckus being made while she tried to find her missing items. "I can't find my-"

Rarity lifted the clothes off her sink and waltzed into the other room with them held up high in the air.

"Little pink dress?"

Sweetie Belle looked up and was delighted to see her dress had been found. "Yes! Thank you, Rarity!"

"Think nothing of it, Sweetie." Rarity said, ego -for now- mollified. Sweetie Belle ran right past her sister, snapping up her dress and running for the door.

"Are you sure you don't want me to walk you out? It's dangerous to go out alone at night!" Rarity called out.

"It's okay. Apple Bloom and Scootaloo said they'd walk me home." Sweetie Bell assured her.

"All right. If you insist..." Rarity rolled her eyes and started entertaining the possibility of tidying up after Sweetie Belle. Dishes and arts-and-crafts on the floor were raised up into the air as she debated it with herself. She levitated them all into their own little corners and filed them away for later cleaning. Right now, she had something to attend to. Something that had to wait until Sweetie was out of the house...

She appreciated every moment of Sweetie Belle's time after that one incident during the Sisterhooves Social, she did, really. But there just some things Sweetie Belle had no business knowing.  
Heading to her own room, Rarity pulled open a drawer and levitated out a small black box. Inside was a special something for Rainbow Dash.

Rarity loved all her friends dearly, but Rainbow Dash...

Rainbow Dash was a friend with benefits.

* * *

**Componydum**

**Chapter VI**

**Asphyxiate**

**Episode Synopsis: Orion's presence threatens Rarity's acceptance of her own oddities: Vivian tries to help some ponies: Aaand we pick back up on an abandoned plot point!**

* * *

As Celestia's sun rose up quietly over the skies of Ponyville, Rarity got out of bed and took a look outside. The perfect setting for her meeting with Rainbow today!

Rarity did her morning routine (which took much longer than most ponies, seeing as involved premium shampoo and other such products that Applejack would question the usefulness of.)

There was a spring in her step as she walked across Ponyville over to her's and Rainbow's meeting location.

A white unicorn with blue hair noticed her. "Hello, miss! You seem happy today!"

"Oh, I am!'

Rarity kept on her way, almost getting happy enough where she would (allllmost) reach Pinkie's level of happiness, bouncing along Ponyville's streets. Unfortunately, she did not have Pinkie's excessive expertise and practice in this action, so she bumped into somepony, making them both topple over in a dog pile.

"Oh!" Rarity blushed at her uncharacteristic lack of grace. "I'm terribly sorry, sir. I was just so happy about something that I wasn't keeping my eyes on the roaad..."

She helped the poor colt she ran into up, but her mouth came to a stop when she saw who it was.

Orion groaned at having been knocked over, and Vivian looked behind him confusedly. "Don't mention it, lady...excuse my rudeness, but I need to get my charge to her first day of class."

Vivian frowned at being referred to as a 'charge'.

"Oh, dear me...go right ahead, good sir!" Rarity saluted him and waved him, causing him to cast a sideways glance of bewilderment at her as he left.

Rarity bit her lip. The sight of Orion had taken a pin straight into the balloon of her happiness she had been holding this morning. When ponies began to stop and stare at her petrified form on the street, she shook her head.

No use in dwelling on it, Rarity, dear. You have a lovely afternoon with Rainbow Dash today, remember?

Taking in several deep breaths, Rarity resumed her walk at a brisk pace. She also passed Twilight on the way, and Rarity, keen socialite she was, noticed Twilight's appearance was particularly down.

"Ooh, Twilight Sparkle!" Rarity beckoned her friend over. "What ever is so wrong, dear?"

Twilight stopped to look at her and sighed heavily. "It's Lucky Swirl."

"Oh? I thought you and Pinkie were delighted to have her!"

"We are." Twilight closed her eyes. "She's precious, but...I've been her private tutor, and I know- I just know- that once we send her to Cheerilee, all of the other foals will make fun for having two moms. Even the Changeling ones. Especially the Changeling ones."

"Oh, pish-posh, dear!" Rarity exclaimed. "We're all different in our own little ways. I'm sure somepony will stick up for her. You know, just like Sweetie Belle did at Diamond Tiara's Cute-Cenara, yes?"

Twilight still looked dull, not at all invigorated by Rarity's words. But she seemed moved enough to at least mumble a weak "I guess you're right..." and carry on her way.

Poor darling. Rarity thought to herself. She didn't like the idea of Sweetie Belle being bullied at school, and that was as close to what Twilight was fearing as Rarity could get.

She took in a deep breath. A cloud of pessimism start to hover her head from her bout with Twilight just now. Being upset over the thought of something made her think about more things that made her upset...like Orion today. Uggh. Hopefully, Rainbow Dash would use her weather pony abilities to remove this cloud.

She exhaled sharply when she finally saw the sight of the restaurant's sign. Walking up to the register, she ask the clerk for a table for two. He guided her towards an empty one outside she and took up her seat at one at the outdoor set-up. She reminisced slightly. It was at this restaurant that she and her friends had the ...unique privilege of seeing one of the first episodes of Celestia's sit-com, "Celly and Chrissy" which proved...interesting.

She looked up at the sun, still bright and early in the sky. Then she pulled out her gift for Rainbow Dash and peeked inside. She giggled at it. Dash was going to be so surprised...maybe a little embarrassed, hehe!

"Hey, Rarity! What'cha up to!"

"Oh, Applejack!" Rarity exclaimed. She hid the gift behind her back, almost hyperventilating at how close Applejack had gotten to seeing it. This was for Rainbow Dash's eyes only!

"Forgive me for being startled, darling. I was expecting Rainbow Dash."

Applejack seemed to take this as good news. "Oh, good! Ah need y'alls and the other girls help landin' me a stallion."

Rarity's brain crashed. Applejack was on the prowl for a stallion?...Of her own accord? No. No. No! Surely, something had caused this. Applejack would never go looking for a stallion of her own if something wasn't making her.

"Um. When you say a stallion, you mean a-"

"Ah mean somepony to help me keep the legacy of the Apple Family alive!" Applejack snapped. "You know, a father."

Rarity scratched her chin, thinking. "Are you sure you don't want another mare? I hear Lucky Swirl's turning into quite the prodigy of Twilight's in more ways than one. Though I also she's being bulled at school for having too mothers, the poor thing..."

Rarity felt a buzz in her head. Was she misquoting Twilight? She didn't think she was...

"Wut? Why?"

"The ponies- and Changeling foals there too- all think her having two mothers is 'unnatural.'"

"Well, it kinda is, ain't it? Ah mean, the story goes 'when a daddy pony and a mommy pony love each other very much', not 'when two mommy ponies love each other way too much-"

"Applejack! I can't believe what I'm hearing!"

"Well, ya gotta admit, sumtimes it seems like Twilight's a little TOO in love with Pinkie..."

Rarity experienced a surreal event in her, her head zooming against a delusional landscape as she tried to comprehend the nonsense her dear friend had just spewed out.

"...TOO in love? Can you be TOO in love? I wonder..." Rarity put her hoof on her chin, pondering, thinking furiously as she attempted to work that out. Never, never, in any of her many romance novels that Rarity had read had there ever been an event of somepony being 'too' in love. In what universe does that work...?

Rarity was so wrapped up in her own thoughts that she couldn't hear the sound she had been waiting for: the flap of Rainbow Dash's wings as the cyan mare flew down from above and landed next to the table.

"Hey, Rarity! So, where's that-oh." Dash rolled her eyes and looked away from Applejack.

"Wut's wrong, R.D? Not happy ta see me?"

"Well...no." Rainbow admitted. "Rarity told me we would be getting a little one-on-one time."

"One-on-one time?" Applejack questioned. "OH! Rarity, Rainbow Dash! Don't tell me y'all are datin' each other behind our backs like Twilight and Pinkie were!"

Rarity and Rainbow Dash exchanged looks.

"We're friends." Rarity said. "...With benefits."

"Now wut in the hay is that supposed to mean!? You know what!? Ah don't think Ah want to know! Hmph!" Applejack stormed off in a huff.

_Why are you so very disproving, A.J?_ Rarity thought to herself. She mulled over it in her head. Perhaps they could poke Applejack into doing something to broaden her farmer pony world view.

Oh! A brilliant thought struck Rarity's head. She had staked a claim on Rainbow Dash, Twilight and Pinkie were together, and as far as Rarity knew, Fluttershy had no significant other to speak of.

"Applejack wait!"

Applejack stopped and looked over her shoulder. Her disapproving glare told Rarity she only a moment to speak her mind.

"Since I'm, er...involved with Rainbow Dash, Twilight and Pinkie are married...perhaps you can complete the circle by asking Fluttershy out for a practice date!" Rarity exclaimed proudly, throwing her hooves to the sky.

"Most colts would find you rather drab at the moment..."

Terrible thing to say about one of her best friends, really. But Rarity stuck by it, as Applejack's sense of fashion was dreadful. Absolute atrocious, to tell the truth.

Applejack stopped dead in her tracks like she been shot with premium tranquilizer.

"Y'all know what? That sounds totally crazy, but Ah can't help but like that idea..." Applejack trotted away a ways before stopping again. "Ah'm forgetting sumthun...oh, yeah!" Applejack bit some apples, took them out of her basket, and bucked towards Rarity and Rainbow Dash.

Rarity held the shiny, luscious fruit in her hoof, appreciating her friend's generosity. "Thank you, darling!"

Rainbow Dash held out her wing and pulled her chair away out from the table. "So, where's that present you had for me?"

Rarity chuckled her head. Typical Rainbow, always wanting her present first and her cake second. "It's right here." The marshmallow held up the box proudly.

"It's awfully small..." Dash recoiled, wings spread out, and jumped to the top of her chair. "It's not a wedding ring, is it!?"

"Hahahah! No, darling. I assure you it is not a wedding ring."

"Oh. Okay!" Rainbow eagerly swiped the box from Rarity .

"Exscusie-moi..." the restaurant's waiter said to them, trotting over before Dash could open her present. "But are those apples from the restaurant?"

"Er, no."

"Then I'm going to have to ask you either get rid of them, or take them and leave. No food from outside the restaurant, you see."

"Of course. We understand." Rarity took her apple off the table. "Come along, Rainbow darling."

"Mh-hm." Rainbow nodded, floating silently slightly above the air behind Rarity.  
"Oh my gosh!"

"What, darling?"

"I just remembered something! Before Twilight and Pinks sealed the deal and made if official, I went over to Fluttershy's, and she told me about everypony who gets intimate is doomed to go Tartarus!"

Rarity's eyes widened, her jaw dropping. "Oh! This is terrible!"

"I know! We need to go tell Applejack before something happens!"

"What? Oh, no. I was just thinking about all the potential colts Fluttershy's missed out on. But that's something we should be concerned about too, as well."

Rainbow flew upwards and tried to spot Applejack, but there was no splotch of orange on the horizon.

"I can't see her..."

"Oh, well...We'll just have to hope -and possibly pray- for the best."

Rainbow descended gently down, hoping in her heat that, whatever happened, it wouldn't ruin Fluttershy's and Applejack's friendship...or her's and Fluttershy's friendship. She attempted to push it out of her mind.

"So!" Rainbow questioned. "If it's not a wedding ring, what is this gift you got me?"

Rarity chuckled, her lips forming a sly smile. "Why don't you open it and see for yourself?"

"Oh. I get it. A surprise, huh?" Rainbow's bravado and excitement at her new gift where all sponged away like water-absorbent wipes in a rainstorm when she creaked the hinges of the gift. "Rarity!" Rainbow exclaimed, cheeks flushed. "You shouldn't have! What if somepony sees this?"

"Well, you're not going to let them, are you?" Rarity asked with a hint of accusation.

"N-no! Never!" Rainbow quickly snapped the box and put it somewhere on her persona where ponies couldn't see it easily.

"Do you like it?"

Rainbow raised an eye brow, teeth shining in a plastered-on lecherous grin. "Well, I'll have to try it out before I can decide that, won't I?"

"Touche! Anyhoo, since we had to leave today, we might as well go somewhere else later. Does lunch sound good?"

"Yeah. Hey..." Rainbow noticed Twilight and Pinkie walking down the road. "There's Twilight and Pinks..." Dash also noticed a puddle of mud awfully close to the happy couple. Deep in her heart, she knew she shouldn't, but the prankster in her won out. She jumped up into the air and landed in the puddle, causing a splash that covered both ponies in mud.

"Hahahaha!"

"Rainbow Dash!" Twilight tried to scold her, but being drenched in mud made it came out as "Slain Dough Rash!"

* * *

Vivian walked closely to Orion's hoof as they walked about, trying to find the school.

Orion sighed. "Where is that building?"

"Verhapzz ve zhould ask a local for directions..."

Orion gnawed on his lip. He was still new in Ponyville, and didn't really know anypony. He wasn't okay with just waltzing up to some random stranger and asking for directions. As they walked on, they saw somepony tending to their garden.

"Verhapzz 'er?" Vivian suggested meekly.

Orion sighed. "Well, I guess it can't hurt. Come on, then."

They approached the pony, stopping short of behind her. Orion cleared his throat, catching her attention and causing her to stop pouring her pail. She looked over her shoulder at them.

"Oh! Hello. I never seen you two 'round before. You new here?"

"Err, yes." Orion reluctantly admitted. "I'm Orion, and this Vivian. We're trying to find the school?"

"Carrot Top. The school, you say?" Carrot Top pointed down the road. "Just keep going on down and look for the really big building that kinda looks like a barn."

"All right. Thank you, ma'am."

Throughout the conversation, Vivian was enraptured by the movements of one of Carrot Top's plants, snaking and weaving it's way through the air like a dancing snake. Just as Orion was ready to depart, the vine attacked without warning and wrapped itself around Orion's neck.

"What in blazes!?" Orion grabbed the coil and attempted to pry it off himself, despite Carrot Top's protests.

"No, no, don't do that! Take a deep breath and relax."

"Relax? With this thing around my neck? _Are you crazy!?_"

Carrot Top sighed and shook her head. She swatted Orion's hoof off the vine and started stroking the vine and speaking softly to it. "It's okay, sweetie. He's not evil, just cranky. It's fine, dear."

The vine froze. It uncurled from Orion's neck slightly and pointed at Carrot Top like giving a disapproving glare, then unwrapped completely and sunk back into the garden.

Orion collapsed onto his back and took in a deep breath. "Thank you..." Then he added hastily, "For the directions, ma'am. Let's go, Vivian."

Orion got up and started trotting down the road,Vivian waving goodbye to Carrot Top before following Orion.

"I hate this town already." Orion grumbled under his breath. Vivian didn't mind. She knew he had actually liked Ponyville, he was just bitter at having nearly being choked. She knew. She understood.

She understood _him_.

Orion stopped and looked up, having seen a barn-like building that was bigger than average. "That should be it." The two of them galloped ahead into the building and carefully poked their head inside the door. They were a bit hesitant to go inside further than that, as the idea of a school of having wood floors instead of tile was new to them.

After taking a moment to adjust to the idea, they stepped in and started walking down the hallway. There were no signs on any of the doors, so they had some trouble figuring out just where to go. Vivian pulled one door open slightly, but only saw an empty room. She closed the door and shrugged at Orion.

Orion was starting to get disheartened. "Well, this is a bust. Might as well head back home...wait." Orion's ear twitched. "I hear ponies talking. This way, Vivian." Orion beckoned his hoof and led Vivian down the hall to the next door and entered it. From the looks they got from all the ponies in the room, they guessed they must've not been expected.

"Excuse me. Is this Cheerilee's classroom?"

"Yes!" An adult mare at the table answered quickly. Verhapzz _too_ quickly. "Yes it is! I was staring to get worried about you! Okay. Ahem. I'm sorry, class. "When I 'new student' I meant these two. But Lucky will be joining, so we have TWO new students today! Isn't that exciting!?"

A few foals muttered. Orion gritted his teeth. He didn't like the idea of ponies muttering something about Vivian he couldn't hear himself.  
"Now, Lucky Swirl has already introduced herself, and we all know Twilight and Pinkie Pie. Why don't you two introduce yourselves?"

"Um, yes." Orion answered. "I'm Orion. This is my charge, Vivian. We recently moved to Ponyville from Trottingham, and I got a as a waiter here."

Vivian nuzzled Orion's leg apologetically. Orion saw the sadness in her eyes and bit his lip. "(Fake Cough) Pardon, my daughter Vivian."

The teacher suggested Vivian team up with Lucky Swirl, -a new student like Vivian, as far as Orion could tell- to find both their seats in the class. Vivian trotted towards Lucky Swirl, and the unicorn paused before either of them said anything.

"You're cute!" Lucky blurted out. The students burst out laughing while the parents in the room covered their mouths.

Vivian didn't appear at all bothered by Lucky's comment. "Vou think I am ... koot? Hov' in'rezting..." She mused. Neither filly moved while they waited for the other students to finish laughing.

Vivian furrowed her brows, as the laughing had stopped, but Lucky didn't budge.

"Vell!? Are vou go'ing zhu zay vith me vhile ve find zeats or juust zay heir blooshing?"

"Blooshing...I mean, blushing."

A few giggles resurfaced. Vivian rolled her eyes before going to find her seat on her own, although she appreciated Lucky Swirl's honesty.

A lavender mare approached Orion. "Your daughter seems a bit mean..."

"Eh. Please forgive her. She's had some rough times, and doesn't like...well, people in general. She really is a sweetheart once she opens up."

"Mmm..."

Orion reflected on those rough times. Orion always had a crush on Vivian's mother, but he had gotten something of a raw deal where he took care of her daughter after her mother died from a disease. Orion had told Vivian that her momm've had just gone on a long, long journey and would come back one day...

But her mother wasn't going to come back, as much Orion attempted to delude himself into believing his own lie. And Orion knew Vivian was smart, but he didn't know if she knew. She was definitively showing signs of bitterness over not seeing her mother for so long. Being harsh with words. Her mother had only a small trace of their foreign accent, but Vivian's resentment was starting to show in the way she let her accent dominate her sentences.

He had moved to Ponyville with Vivian in order to leave his old home- and more importantly his old memories- behind.

"So!" The lavender mare exclaimed. "How do you like Ponyville so far?"

"It's nice." Orion admitted. "Quiet. Humble. There's a lot of plants."

Quiet. That was one of the main reasons Orion choose to move to Ponyville over Canterlot or Manehatten. He could've easily afforded either, but they were so loud and always bustling with busy ponies.

"Isn't it wonderful?" The lavender mare asked with enthusiasm that Orion found grating. Not that her particular enthusiasm bugged him; he was just so apathetic that any form of enthusiasm he found irritating. "I used to live in Canterlot, and it didn't have the flora Ponyville does."

Orion found her excited chatter at odds with his earlier experience today. "One of the flowers tried to strangulate me."

"I know! Isn't it fascinating!?"

Orion raised his eyebrow. What was wrong with this mare? The sight of Lucky Swirl being invited to a seat and the lavender mare being restrained from charging by the pink mare only served to catch his attention for a moment. He didn't really pay attention to the conversation being had between two different pink little girls.

"I zuppoze zince Luckv'e deklined it, thiz zeat zhall ve mine." Vivian announced after the conversation was over. She gave a glare at the lighter of the two pink girls and muttered something.

Orion turned, ready to leave, but something caught his eye. One of the students in the class... a white colt with brown spots on his coat. He could see an aura, a presence on him. A presence he recognized and did not wish to see again. An aura he couldn't let Vivian be near without his supervision.

The Headless Horse had possessed the little colt, and Orion could recognize it because he had been possessed once by the flaming demon.

"...I am so sorry, Miss Cheeriee, but Vivian and I have to leave now. Something's come up. Come on, Vivian."

Vivian frowned, not wanting to have to leave school almost just as soon as she arrived, but with an eye towards Pipsqueak, she hopped off her chair and followed Orion out the door.

"Zir?" Vivian asked politely as they headed for the school's exit. "Vhy arr ve leaving zo zoon?"

Orion sighed. "I told you, something came up."

"Doezz it have zumthun to do vith that white colt in the clazz? I notised vou glansing at hem."

Orion chewed his lips. "Yes, it does. Come on. If we hurry, I can make a surprise shift at the restaurant. Maybe we can get something to eat, huh? Does that sound good?"

"I guess..." Vivian muttered, looking at the ground sadly, still longing for a day of school. Not because she liked learning, but because a day at school represented many things a growing filly needed.

Normalcy. Social interaction.

_Stability._

* * *

Rarity put her hoof over her eyes as she looked up at the sun, Rainbow Dash lazily floating behind her in the air, pretending to practice her tricks for the clearly inevitable day when she would be accepted into the Wonderbolts.

Anyways, Rarity was looking at the sun to gauge what time it was. "I would say lunch is soon enough, darling. What do you say we head back?"

"Whatever you want to do is cool, dude." Rainbow answered.

Rarity did not like Rainbow Dash's lack of interest, but she kept it to herself. She grabbed Rainbow's tail with her magic and dragged her down to earth against the pegasus' will, causing her to sulk.

"Oh, don't be like that, darling. You forced my hoof in this, you know."

Rarity guided Rainbow Dash back to the restaurant they met Applejack at earlier and asked for a table.

"Yes." The dark blue stallion now attending the register responded to them. "Right this way, ladies."

"Thank you, dar-liiing..." Rarity's mouth quit working at the sight of who their waiter was. Rainbow didn't notice.

"Say, you two look like some responsible mares." The waiter said to them. "I have my charge by herself at the table, and I can't watch her and serve customers. Would you mind being sat down with her and watch her for a little while?"

"Oh! Well..." Rarity stammered.

"Eeeh..." Rainbow added.

"It's only for a while."

"I guess we can do that." Rainbow agreed at last.

"Thank you so much." He said. He led them to a table- a different than the one they had earlier, although it was still outside. There was a filly there who kinda looked like Daring Do, except with black hair with yellow strands.

"This is Vivian." The stallion said, gesturing to her as he gave all three of them menus. "I'm Orion. I'll be your waiter this afternoon. What would you like to drink?"

Rarity made an unintelligible squeak.

"I...don't think we have that, miss."

"I'll have a cola." Dash decided, starting to notice Rarity's behavior.

"Chocolate milk." Vivian asked politely, glaring coldly at her menu like it was the most contemptible thing in the world.

Orion was concerned that Rarity still hadn't ordered anything.

"She'll get back to you." Rainbow assured him, motioning her hoof for him to continue.

Orion nodded and left. Rainbow looked to Vivian, who briefly lowered her menu to give her a accusing glare before raising the menu to cover her face.

"If vou vant to talk avout zumthun, do not my've veing here ztop vou."

"Right...so!" Rainbow grabbed Rarity's ear and took her aside. "Rarity, what's going on?"

Rarity exhaled sharply. "Rainbow Dash, darling. Do you remember the day our relationship started? With Twilight going on trial for murder and I was not able to attend?"

"Of course. Why wouldn't I?"

"Yes, excellent. Well, do you remember the story I told you about trying to asphyxiate a bully when I was younger with that blue scarf of ours?"

"Yeeeahhh?"

Rarity flailed her hoof. "Our waiter-Orion-is that bully!"

It took a moment for Rainbow Dash to realize the full implications of this. "Oh man! So that means...oh, this is bad!"

"You're telling me!?" Rarity shrieked.

Vivian lowered her menu. "Vhat's go'ing on now've?"

With expert timing demonstrated just how much the universe hates ponies, how its celestial magnificent orbit did not care for their petty problems, Orion returned. "I'm back! Is everypony ready to order?"

"Ves. I vould like the vuild vore own vowl?"

"Uh...I'll take some hay fries." Dash said, Rarity still held in her own hooves. Dash shook the unicorn slightly.

"Huuh? Wha...? Oh!" Rarity's eyes widened at the sight of Orion. "Hello! Um...orders, you say? I'll have...whatever my friend is having."

"Right then." Orion jotted down the order in his notebook. "Build your own bowl, and two orders of hay fries...hey." Orion raised a eyebrow and started narrowing his eyes at Rarity. "Say, you look familiar."

Rarity and Rainbow both broke into cold sweats.

"O-oh?" Rarity waved her hoof in front of her face, trying to appear calm. "Whatever makes you say that?"

"Well, you do..." Orion stroked his chin in thought. Rarity and Rainbow began tensing up. "I've got it! You look like Lemon Hearts!"

Rarity breathed out a sigh of relief and wiped her brow. "Oh, is that all? For a moment there, I though you were going to...never mind!"

Orion stared, confused by Rarity's behavior.

"Anyhoo, you said I look like Lemon Hearts? I've never heard of her..."

"I used to live in Trottingham. She was a resident there. You could probably stand in for each other with a little make-up."

"Well, I am quite good with make-up." Rarity said, trying to deflect from her trauma and worry. Orion didn't seem to remember her at all, so what was she so worried over?

"Well, I'll go get your order." Orion said, turning away.

Rarity then noticed something. "Say, you say this is your charge, Orion?"

"Yes."

"Where's her mother?"

Both Orion and Vivian completely froze. Rarity could feel it in the air that she just asked a very bad question.

Vivian sniffed, and a tear leaked from her eye. Orion whipped around and started trying to comfort her with the kind of haste a father should have, tossing aside his waiter tools.

"Oh, don't cry, Vivian. Don't think about it. I'll see about getting some of your favorite ice cream flavor, all right?"

Vivian wiped the tear away, giving a sniffling nod. Orion shot Rarity what Rarity was sure would be the dirtiest, filthiest glare she would ever receive in her life.

"See what you did?" Orion rasped at her quietly. He picked up his pen and notepad and left to get their food.

"I'm...so sorry." Rarity said to Vivian. Vivian humphed and raised her menu to block her face from them. Rarity leaned on Rainbow's shoulder-equivalent, feeling absolutely terrible and horridly guilty. An extremely sharp was digging at her in her stomach, and it seemed to be growing and growing...

In fact, it was starting to feel so bad, Rarity couldn't be sure it was just guilt. She was about to tell Rainbow Dash she didn't feel well when the pain skyrocketed to unbearable levels.

Both she and Rainbow Dash fell over off their seats and onto the floor, going into spasms from the sheer pain. It felt like harpoons or ropes with hooks had launched from -and on- to their hearts, one going to each other, and four going off in different directions towards the directions of the school and Fluttershy's cottage. Other ponies eating stopped doing so when they noticed.

Orion, not yet out of earshot, rushed back over and nudged Vivian. Vivian removed her menu and saw them. She bounded out of her seat and tended to their sides. A few ponies got up, intending to remove this young filly from such a scary sight.

"Ztand vackk! I'm a doktor!"

While a barely beneath teenage years filly claiming to be a doktor might seem ridiculous, her mother had been one, and her mother's parents had also been in the medical field.

Vivian didn't quite know what was going on with Rarity and Rainbow, so she defaulted to what it looked like most: a seizure. She applied pressure to Rarity's chest to stablize her, but it had no effect.

"Eeerr..." Vivian growled at her failure.

But just as suddenly as the pain and spasms started, they stopped. Rarity and Rainbow took in deep, heaving breaths.

"I'm going to 'ave to azzk vou to ztay on the ground for a momeent." Vivian asked in her strange accent. She produced a stethoscope and applied it to Rarity's chest. She listened intently and heard absolutely nothing out of the ordinary. She motioned Rarity she was good to go and then moved to Rainbow Dash.

Dash chuckled. "You know, I always imagined one Daring Do would stand before me...just, not like this."

Orion tensed up. "Will you please refrain from inappropriate jokes like that in front of Vivian?"

Vivian remained focused, ignoring both of them. She removed the stethoscope and looked down sadly. "I'm zorry, Rainvow Dazh. I cannot find anv'ething vrong vith vou or Raritv'e. Vou are both perfectv'e healthv'e."

They all sat back down at their table. Orion left again, finally coming back with their food this time. They all ate quietly. Vivian did not feel like opening up, Rarity didn't want to risk accidentally asking poor question, and Rainbow could sense Rarity's unease.

Rainbow and Rarity politely remained there until Orion came back out of his uniform and tell them his shift was over. Rarity was all too happy to bounce out of her seat and drag Rainbow Dash away. Orion sat at the table and presented to Vivian the promised ice cream.

"I'm sorry that mare asked about Vaccine..." Orion muttered.

Vivian ate the ice cream in silence. Occasionally, she would glance up and looked at Orion pitifully, but would look back down before Orion could think of anything to say.

* * *

Rarity and Rainbow entered the Carousel Boutique, Rainbow eager to try out her new toy. Rarity did not seem as keen.

"Oh..." Rarity sighed.

"Hey." Dash asked, tossing her gift aside on a table. "What's wrong?"

Rarity only spared her a brief glance before turning her attention back elsewhere. Rainbow grunted and was about to walk out, when Rarity did a one-eighty and charged against Rainbow Dash, taking care not to poke Rainbow with her horn.

"It's Orion, Dash! Meeting him again today, after so long!" Rarity did a typical Rarity-style melodramatic emphasis on 'so'. "It's made me realize something!"

"What?"

"That I'm a freak! I can't get..._you know_...unless the ponies around me are choking! Suffocating! _Dying_!" Rarity started to sob and sob into Rainbow's chest.

"Oh." Rainbow darted here eyes around the room. She wasn't good with emotional moments. The best she had to offer was "You're not a freak."

Rarity stopped crying -if only for a moment- to look up. "You know, I...I don't really like mares, you know?" Rarity nuzzled Rainbow to apologize for that comment. "You were just the first...the first one who would entertain my fantasies...my delusions. _Hmh. Hmh. (Sniff!)_"

Rainbow grimaced. "Uh..." She raised a hoof and patted Rarity on the back. "There, there?"

Rarity sucked in her tears to cast an accusing glare. "'There, there'? I am crying, and all you have to offer me is the what mothers give to their still developing children?" But her anger was powerless against her despair, and she was right back to sobbing on Rainbow's chest in a manner of seconds.

Rainbow pursed her lips and looked around the room, hoping something in there would give her some escape from this torment. "Ah!" She zoomed to another side of the room, leaving Rarity without her physical support and letting the unicorn fall over onto the floor to keep crying.

"I have an idea..." Rainbow said mischievously. "I think..."

"You think?" Rarity questioned, wiping a tear from her eye, almost all cried out.

"I think..." Rainbow repeated, like stuck on a broken record.

"You think...what, Rainbow, darling? I am ever so eager to hear it!" The last part came out a bit sarcastically. Rarity was slightly befuddled when she saw a translucent light blue silk scarf suddenly slithering somewhere on her shoulder (equivalent...) The scarf Rainbow and Rarity shared as an important memento of their unusual relationship.

Rainbow was starting to tense up. The excitement of what she was about to do was forming knots of tension in her body.

"I think...you should experience it yourself!"

Rainbow pulled the scarf around Rarity's neck and cross it over itself, wrapping tightly around Rarity's throat and starting to deprive her of oxygen.

"Rainbow-!?" Rarity exclaimed at Rainbow Dash's high-even-for-her levels of gall and audacity. "What are you doing? _Haruk!_"

"Maybe when you feel it for yourself, you'll accept yourself for what you are!"

"But hooo...ww?" Rarity's words became increasingly difficult to understand. Before she even knew it, her cheeks were starting to flush, and questionable noises were slipping from her mouth.

"Oh...ooohhooo...Rainbow!" Rarity threw her muzzle in the air in passion. "I-I'm starting to understand it now! Why this is so...hot! The risk! The surge of adrenaline while yo- _cauff-cauff_- you put your life in somepony's hooves! Somepony whom you must trust wi-iii-wi-with every fiber of your being! The rush! Hooo-HACK-hoooooo!"

"I don't get any of that, but okay! As long as you're happy..."

"Don't you see, Rainbow Dash!? I'm not a freak! I'm an enabler!"

Rainbow was stumped as to how that possibly could've been any better...

"The ponies you -that's in a general sense, dear. I'm not singling you out- try to asphyxiate...it's no-ooowt! Not that they want to be choked...it's -Hrrrak!- that they want the rush of adrenaline from almost die-dying! RAINBOW!"

"What?" Rainbow exclaimed with annoyance. Was she doing something wrong? What did Rarity have an issue with now?

"I am _extremely worked up_ right now! Cease this at once, and to my bedroom!"

_Oh. That kind of issue_. Rainbow thought to herself. "Can do!" She untwisted the scarf and whipped it off Rarity's neck. Rarity collapsed onto the floor and took in a deep breath.

Dash chuckled, trotting around the down unicorn and lowering her head to boast. "Do you need your Prince Charming to help you up?" Dash snickered at her taunting.

Rarity smiled sweetly and raised her hoof. "That would be lovely, my prince."

Rainbow blushed. When she called herself it, it was a way of poking fun at Rarity, but now that Rarity had called her it...

"Oh. Um. Wow...uh, okay. Uh...your chariot awaits?" Rainbow questioned, grasping Rarity's hoof and lifting the unicorn up.

"We'll work on your dialogue later. But for now..."

Rainbow held a steady grip as she whisked Rarity up the stairs and into her bedroom, making sure to lock the door extra tight before they both climbed into the bed.

Meanwhile, downstairs, Carousel Boutique's main entrance opened.

"Hey, Rarity!" Sweetie Belle called. "Me and the other Crusaders want to know if you would-huh?"

Sweetie looked back and forth around the room, seeing neither hide nor hair of her fussy sibling.

"I guess she's out right now..." Sweetie Belle concluded. She turned around and walked out the door. "She's not here, girls! Count her out!"

Scootaloo's disappointed "Awww!" was audible from inside the Boutique. "Oh well. Maybe Rainbow Dash is home and we can go ask her instead. She's cooler anyway, right?"

Sweetie Belle's first impulse was to defend her sister. "She is not!" But then she thought on it a moment and realized that Rainbow Dash really was technically 'cooler' than her own sister and nodded her head. "No, wait, yeah. You're right."

The pitter-patter of tiny hooves scampering could only be heard for a few moments from the Boutique's door.

While up above, the sounds of giggling remained audible for quite some time...

Shortly after, Fluttershy opened the door to the Boutique. "H-hello?" The shy pegasus stuttered.

"No pony around..."

Fluttershy stepped inside, using her wing to shut the door behind her.

"Just like I expected...Oooh, I hate it when I'm right." Fluttershy sighed before making her way up the stairs towards where Rarity's room was. She knocked on the door tentatively.

"Whoever you are, we're busy!" Rarity shouted from the other side.

"Oh, I'm sorry- I'll come back later..." Fluttershy turned around, but rather go on her way, she went back to the door and knocked again. "It's Fluttershy!"

"Fluttershy? Terrible sorry for yelling at you, dear, but Rainbow and I are in the middle of something!"

"I- I know!"

"You know?" Rarity questioned. "If you know, then why do you insist on interrupting our private time!?"

"I-I..."

Fluttershy gulped hard.

"I wanted to know if you would let me join you!"

On the other side of the door, Rarity and Rainbow Dash completely stopped what they were doing.

"...Rainbow Dash, am I going insane, or did Fluttershy just say she wanted to-"

"No, no. I heard it too."

"..._Well then!_ What do you suppose we do, darling?"

"Eeeeh...I-I have no idea."

"Hmm."

The two ponies whose names both started with "R" put their hooves on their chins, wondering just what do with the ridiculous and somewhat disturbing predicament they were in.

* * *

Vivian ate the ice cream in silence. Occasionally, she would glance up and looked at Orion pitifully, but would look back down before Orion could think of anything to say.

Once she finished, she pushed the bowl and spoon away.

Orion looked upwards. "I think I heard the school bell ring. Maybe they'll let you play with them at recess? Would you like that?"

"Mav've..." Vivian muttered. Orion picked her up and scooted her along to give her a boost in speed.

They trotted all the way back to the schoolyard, where once they found Miss Cheerilee, she said they could go ahead as long Vivian was polite and didn't bully anypony. Orion remained by Cheerilee and started trying to explain his earlier behavior while Vivian trotted into the playground.

The first thing she noticed was Luckv' Zwirl cowering away from Silver Spoon and a trio of Changeling foals. They were calling her names and accusing her of stuff. Vivian couldn't but sneer, as for all the no bullying Cheerilee talked about, she didn't seem to do such a good job of actually enforcing it.

"Freak!"

"By-product!"

"What kind of pony has TWO mommies!?"

Vivian's eye twitched, her head tilting in agitation. That was not a good thing to hear after Rarity's question early made her think of her mother.

"The luckv'est ponv'e in the world..." Vivian muttered to answer.

"I...it's not my fault!" Lucky attempted to defend herself. "It's not like I can just...choose who my parents are!"

"The Mare With Two Mothers! That's what you are!" Silver Spoon taunted.

Vivian couldn't take it anymore. She scraped her hoof before charging right in front of Silver Spoon, leaping between her and Lucky.

"And juzt vhat iz vrong vith hav'ing two mommvies!? Hmm!?"

Silver Spoon and the Changelings backed away, startled by Vivian's appearance and more than a little scared at the heaving amounts of air blowing from Vivian's nose.

"Well, it, uh...most ponies have a mommy and a daddy..." Silver Spoon.

"Oh? Reallv'e?" Vivian snorted. "Do vou realize vhat Luckv'e haz bekaz of her two mothers?"

"Uh..." Silver Spoon looked to her Changeling cronies, as if hoping they would have an answer.

"Vou know vho tucks vou in ved at night? Vou know vho zings you lullavies and holds vou vhen vore scared of the thing in vou know iz in vore closet? Vore mother! And Luckv'e..." Vivian pointed to Luckv'e. "She haz two poniv'es vho do that for her! TWO poniv'es to hold her and love her and read her bed time ztories!"

The amount of steam heaving from Vivian's nose was almost health-concerning.

"Vou four are laughing at her and pocking fun at her, vhen her name- Luckv'e- is fitting, bekaz she haz her two mothers!"

Vivian glared at Silver Spoon like a fireplace that had been lit up by a bomb.

"I lost m'ave _one_."

Vivian snarled at the four bullies, and they all took off running. She took a moment to catch her breath and compose herself, then turned towards Lucky.

Lucky was at a loss for words. "Um...thanks. You know. For...standing up for me just now."

"I meeant all that, Luckv'e." Vivian informed her, putting a hoof on Lucky's chest. "Appreciate what vou have in vore two mothers. If vou lose one, vou vill hav'e another..."

Vivian closed her eyes and began to walk away.

"Hey!"

Vivian turned looked over her shoulder-equivalent at Lucky.

"Maybe I can...give you one of my mommies?" Lucky offered.

Vivian chortled. "That's zweet, Luckv'e, vut I don't think it'z that zimple."

"Oh...okay."

Vivian walked out of sight, and Lucky put her hoof on her chest, heart pounding and a blush forming on her face.

_What is this feeling?_ Lucky thought to herself. _Every time Vivian gets near me, I feel hot...but also frozen. _

Vivian ran up to a startled Orion and cried into his chest. Cheerliee could see there was a tender moment unfolding and left them alone.

"I...I knov'e my momma izn't komming vack anv'e time zoon." Vivian confessed to Orion.

Orion bit his lip. "I was afraid of that."

"And I knov'e vou had a krush on 'er...and I'm prettv'e zhore zhe azked vou to vatch o'er me...and I kno've vore not m'ave real father...vut I vant vou to know, I ztill vant to kall vou 'daddv'e..."

Orion's lip quivered, overwhelmed. "Oh, Vivian..."

Orion wrapped his charge...no, his daughter into a tight embrace, and the two them just laid there and cried.

* * *

Later, after school finished, Lucky nervously opened the library door. She scuffled nervously inside, closing the door behind her. It was silly, really, being nervous about entering her own home, but she wanted to talk about what had been going on today.

"Mommy?" Lucky squeaked.

Twilight appeared, quicker than a pony eye could blink, almost like she had been preparing for this all day. "Yes, my little darling star?"

"I've been having these weird feelings..." Lucky explained.

"Oh?" Twilight tapped Lucky's chin. "Can you describe them, sweetie?"

"It's...that new filly, Vivian? Every time she gets near me, my lungs get all stuffed up."

Twilight grimaced. She really hoped this wasn't what it was sounding like, because if it was...Lucky was much too young to be having feelings like that. She gulped. "A-anything else, Lucky?"

"Yes...she told me that she...she lost her one mommy." Lucky started tearing up. "So, I asked if maybe I could give her either you or Momma, and she said didn't think it would be that simple!" Lucky hugged Twilight's chest, tears running down unevenly like a broken water fountain. "I...I want to make her feel better, mommy! I want to make Vivian happy, and I can't do that, and it _hurts!_ It hurts that I can't make her feel better..."

"Oh..."

Twilight signed. Yup. It was that feeling. She was well-familiar with it. She had, after all, been in the same position with Pinkie, after all. Lucky was in love with Vivian.

Twilight found herself at a loss for what to do. She wanted to steer Lucky on a path that would keep her safe from heartbreak while not keeping Lucky away from Vivian. She wanted to move Lucky around so that she didn't try to court Vivian at such a young age, yet not flat-out tell her daughter she couldn't -eventually, one day- have a relationship with the object of her desire.

"I..I know what you're going through, Lucky Swirl. And, I'm sorry, but...there's no good way to help with it."

Lucky looked up at her mommy, still unsure of herself and Twilight had not really given anything to help light her way.

"You're really not ready for this sort of thing right now, Lucky." Twilight tried to tell her. "Forget about it for now. We'll talk about it again when you're older, okay?"

Lucky sniffed. "Okay..."

"Excellent. Why don't you go play with your gyros?" Twilight gave a reasurring push to Lucky's back. Lucky went into the foyer and started using her magic to bang around the gyros Twilight had bought just for her.

Twilight went back to whatever she was doing before.

Suddenly, there was a huge rush of wind in the foyer. Lucky was startled by it, so her magic lost hold and dropped the gyros. She looked around for an opening where a draft could be coming in, but everywhere was well sealed.

There was another rush, and Twilight's various papers on the table start billowing around. Magical energy of unknown origin started swirling around on top of the table.

Twilight came back around the corner and looked in the room. She gasped at the sight of the magic on the table. "Lucky, what did you do!?"

"N-nothing!" Lucky stammered. Twilight rushed up to the table.

The magic began taking color, and shape, eventually contorting into some sort of portal with a blue and black hypnosis pattern.

Twilight and Lucky both blinked.

The portal contorted and twisted, then spat out onto the table...Shining Armor?

Except it wasn't Shining Armor. It looked just like Shining Armor, except his mane, eyes, tail, and Cutie Mark where an eye-searing bright green in all the places where Shining Armor's was a dark blue, and a complimentary yellow where Shining was light blue. The portal disappeared behind him in a flash of white light.

The Shining duplicate rubbed his head, obviously in pain. He opened his eyes and was startled at the sight of Twilight and Lucky before him.

"...Hello?" Twilight questioned.

"Twiley!" The duplicate exclaimed. He stood up on the table proudly and pointed at her in accusation.

"You are in _so much trouble,_ little miss!"

* * *

**Author's Notes for "Asphyxiate"**

**Lot of tears in this chapter...**

**I didn't _plan_ to show that plant that tries to choke Orion when I typed up "Learning", but as I was typing this, it just seemed the natural thing to do.**

**In the first draft of this chapter, Rarity had a reservation at the restaurant she and Rainbow meet at. I changed this because they have to leave, and that would be such a waste.**

**I feel bad about last chapter. What really happened in there? Nothing. Really. But I wanted to make that story, and making into it's own one-shot, it wouldn't have had the connections to ACITA it needs to make sense!**

**Back in "Shimmy", Rarity mentions Twilight talking about Lucky Swirl being bullied at school, but in the same chapter, Applejack nearly runs Lucky over. But when Applejack nearly runs Lucky over is when Lucky is supposed to be on her way to her first day of school! So how does Rarity know that Lucky's being bullied when she hasn't even arrived at school yet!?**

**Then I realized as I was writing this chapter... I was making the above mistake a waaay bigger deal than it actually was. I was over-reacting, basically thinking "Oh dear (deity name here) I made a mistake all my readers are going to see it and hate me for it now and quit reading and consider me a detestable human being!"**

**But you know...it's really just a tiny, tiny little oversight. I'm sure since no one's pointed it out, they didn't even notice.  
**

**Though it does highlight that going through the same chapter from different perspectives is not my strong suit... **

**Uh, anyways...I was HOPING to make it so that the return of the Alternate Dimension happened JUST as everypony thought I'd forgotten about it. I'm not sure how effective this actually was...  
**

**And I know it's _very rarely_ that I update this, but next time, the Season 1 Finale!**

**And if you liked this, leave a review explaining why! And if you didn't like it, do the same!**


	8. Series Cancelation Apologies

**Disclaimer: My Little Pony is the properties of Hasbro. This is a non-profit work made by an independent contractor outside of the official company's notice intended for non-profit entertainment and speculative purposes only.**

**Look, look, I know last time, I said this would be the Season 1 Finale.**

**Well, guess what. It's the _Series_ Finale. I'm trying to finish up all my stories before heading off to college in August, so this thing is done. And it only took 8 months! 8 FREAKING MONTHS! Celestia damn it all to Pony Hell. I've barely been able to write any a full season 1! What makes you think I could do a full Season Two!? **

**I read somewhere that true writing occurs best when the writer is HAPPY. This story does not make me HAPPY, so it will be CANCELLED, OVER, FINISHED. Sayonara, toodle-loo! SO LONG, and thanks for all the fiiiiish!**

**I'm serious. It's gotten to the point where it's almost able to cause me _stress attacks,_ it's that bad.**

**BUT I will be at least kind enough to give you a summary of events and an epilogue. **

**So, Darkryt Orbainautz presents, with a surprising amount of GLEE that this PIECE OF CRUD is DONE...**

**Like, seriously, I am sooooo happy I decided to cut this story short and end it here...**

**Componydum **

**Series Finale**

**Apologies **

* * *

Hi. I'm Twilight Sparkle.

I'm currently in Canterlot, watching as Princess Celestia, the pony I thought I could trust the most, flee from the outskirts of her city into the wild, where she belongs...somewhere without a home, without a family, without the magic of friendship...somewhere where she can't manipulate me or my child anymore!

I suppose I should explain.

It all started one day when a portal opened up inside my home. My daughter, Lucky Swirl, had just come home telling me how she wanted to help somepony, but she couldn't. She wanted to this transfer student named Vivian. Vivian lost her mother, and Lucky, she has two mothers, My Pinkie Pie and myself. She thought maybe she could give Vivian one of us, but the world doesn't work that way...

It was so saddening to see her like. She was in love. That's why she wanted to help Vivian. That's why she would've been ready to give me or Pinkie Pie. Her own mothers, and she would be willing to give either us away if meant Vivian was happy.

How can you say that's not true love that's meant to be? How?

Anyways, after we had that painful exchange, I told Vivian to play with her gyros. Shortly after I told her to do that, I heard something whooshing into the room, and I ran into the room to see what was going on. A blue and black portal with a hypnosis pattern was opening, and it spat out a perfect copy of my brother, Shining Armor, except all his blues either greens or green-complimenting yellow. He told me I was in a 'so much trouble, little missy!' He also yelled at Lucky Swirl. I told him he couldn't talk to her that way, and I would hurt him if he raised his voice at her again. He said I was so defiant and strong-willed, I couldn't possibly be his sister. After some back and forth, I realized he was right, albeit coming from the wrong direction.

I got Pinkie Pie, my wife, who I call by her middle name...Diane. My wife, Diane.

Nopony is allowed to call her that but me, me, and only me.

Anyways, I got her, and we went to the living room to talk more with the Shining Armor clone. After a while talking with him, which was a very painful experience for me, as I had to hold the urge to burn a hole through his chest when he said something rude (which was often) we eventually figured out he had come an alternate universe where events had played out differently, and the Twilight Sparkle in his universe had used her magic and sent him to ours.

One quick scrolling through my vast collection of books later, and I found the spell she used to send him here. I cast it, opened the portal, told Lucky to stay, grabbed Pinkie's hoof, and jumped in with him, even though I kinda wanted to not help him.

Once we landed on the other side, we were suddenly in Canterlot, but that's not all. His greens and yellows had gone back to their blues! He was extremely proud of it, saying that he was restored to his normal handsome self. He sickened me.

Pinkie then pointed that my coat and mane had changed, and I saw so did hers. Her mane was still pink, but it was a darker pink, and her coat was seaweed green. I, meanwhile...looked like my mother. I figured out that the alternate universe we were in, the colors changed whenever somepony was there wasn't supposed to be. This world's Shining Armor's appearance changed when he was in our world, and now that we were in his, so had ours.

In minutes, we surrounded by Guards, led by a Fluttershy who wore a leather jacket and a Rarity with muscles. The Guards fell to my magic easily, but this world's Rarity, a mute, took everything I threw at her. Seeing more Guards approached, we surrendered.

They brought us to a house. A nice house. In it was this world's Rainbow Dash, wore a suit and tie, poking fun at this world's Princess Cadence, saying that I – by that I mean, this world's me- ruled Canterlot now, and Cadence would be lucky to be a slave. They noticed us. Alter Rainbow Dash was elated Rarity had captured Shining Armor, but she didn't understand who me and Pinkie were. I explained it to her, and I told her how we would be helping Alter Shining Armor and Alter-Cadence. Alter Dash laughed and asked if I knew that Alter-Cadence and Alter-Shining used Alter Me as...as...

As a call girl.

My jaw dropped, I was so horrified. Alter-Cadence and Alter-Shining didn't even attempt to make excuses. They just held their noses up high. Alter-Dash explained how she ran an abuse rescue service, preventing wives and husbands from beating on each other or their children. Alter-Cadence mistook Dash's interest in Alter Me as hiring her, and willingly give her over to Alter- Dash. As a result, Dash got confirmation of her suspicions, and then they spent their efforts trying to rescue Alter Me.

Alter Me told them about how her mother had given her to Cadence willingly after she seduced Alter-Shining into being her manservant. Uugh. I get a bad taste in my mouth just thinking about it.

They threw me, Pinkie, and the other Shining and Cadence into the room where Rarity worked, and put her there, stationing her as a guard to make us stay put. We tried to get past her, but it was she was made of iron. Pinkie used her impossibly control of cartoon physics to drop an anvil on Alter Rarity's head, and the anvil split in two when it hit. I managed to knock her out, though, using my magic to lure her to sleep.

Alter-Cadence complimented me on my work, and said she soon be avenged, but I stood up to her and told she wasn't getting avenging, that she was a piece of filth that deserved this kind of treatment, and I blasted her and her manservant both, before running out the building.

We found Alter Rainbow Dash waiting for us, and she demanded to know how we got out. I asked her where Princess Celestia was, because I figured she existed somewhere, and I wanted to know what alter me did with her.

She gave me a confused look and said "Who's Princess Celestia?"

It only took me a moment to accept that Celestia didn't exist in this universe. If I was...I don't wanna think about it, but I was what I was in this universe, then there is no way Celestia's kind, caring hoof had ever breezed this place.

Looking back, I see how naive and optimistic that was.

Anyways, I demanded she take me to my alternate self.

She agreed.

I wasn't expecting her to do that, but she explained that my alternate self had expressed interest in meeting me.

So they took me to the castle. They made Diane, Pinkie, my love, wait outside, and took me to the uppermost floor. There, I saw pictures of stained glass.

One of them was moving.

With a clap of dark thunder, I was sitting on a table, a glass of wine on it, sitting opposite the Alter Me, who looked just like myself before I came into her world.

Looking at her, it felt there was a hole in me that there wasn't before. She expressed the same feeling, saying it was like we were two parts of the same thing. We were supposed to be two parts of the same thing, but we were separated before we could have a chance to be in the womb together.

Yeah. She talked rather creepily like that. I saw where she was coming from, though, that was an apt description...

We talked. We chatted. We made some good conversation. It was when we reach the discussion about the magic of friendship that it got uncomfortable for me. She started showing all the wondrous, amazing things she could do with it, with friendship.

But honestly...all the things she did made me think more of Discord than harmony. She turned into a snake, she became a shadow on the wall, she reappeared in the stained glass and did a jaunty little dance.

I was perturbed.

Throughout our conversation, I noticed a bunch of little things, like her eye twitching, her hooves making funny gestures I was sure she didn't mean to.

I asked her if she was crazy. Bold? Yes. Stupid? Yes. But I did it, I said it out loud, in that many words.

"Are you crazy?"

She materialized right in front of me, and gave a cold, hard look which I will never forget.

"Let's see you discover everything you were taught since childhood was a lie, and see how sane _you_ stay."

And then she kicked me out, where her friends - the Alter versions of my friends – just stood there and watched as my mind got to thinking.

What did I have that she didn't? What do I have that maybe, just maybe, could keep her from going off the deep end?

She didn't have the kind, caring Cadence that I knew...she didn't have my B.B.B.F.F... she didn't have the Princess guiding her through life, and then it hit me.

She didn't have a widdle babeh dragon to nurture and care for as her own.

So I went deep into the Canterlot, and I looked for a dragon egg with the same purple and green polka dot color scheme as Spike's egg when he was given to me...

Oh, Spike...he went to live off with mature dragons. Cultured dragons. Sophisticated dragons, nothing like those bullies he once tried to imitate. No, no, these were dragons who were interested in alliance with Equestria for the betterment of both our kinds. But that comes later.

I picked up the egg up. I made sure there no dragons around, and sure enough, they weren't. I was even so nice as to wait to see if the mother or father would come back from hunting, but they never did...so I had a clear conscience about taking this egg. Nopony was around to look after it.

So I took it to the castle, where I tried to get Alter Me to use her magic on it. She refused, as I wouldn't explain what I wanted her to do when she asked. I wasn't sure if she would still go through if she knew what I was trying to make happen.

So I went out, got Alter-Cadence, came back in, provoked her and her friends into getting into a fight, and timed just for her magic to blast the dragon egg and hatch this world's Alter Spike.

This worked even better than I planned for it to. Her eyes turned dewey at the sight, and I could tell her heart had melted. I watch as she gingerly approached the crying newborn, and as she cradled him up into her hooves.

"What is that?" Alter-Cadence demanded.

"Whatever it is, it's beautiful..." Alter-Me answered. The instant he was in her arms, he stopped crying, and I knew had done the right thing. But just to be on the safe side, I threw Alter-Cadence out the window when nopony was looking. She might have used her wings to fly away to safety...maybe.

Alter-Me was so grateful that I given her her first child that she offered to send me and Diane back to our world, free of charge. We accepted, but not before my Pinkie asked if their Fluttershy was a Succubus. (Uh, yeah, that...that was something we found out just recently.) And their Fluttershy, who up until now had been such a tough girl, ran off in tears. Alter Dash wanted to know what Pinkie had said. Pinkie shrugged, then we went through the portal.

...Where we found my beloved mentor and my brother, standing in my library, were there...with my beautiful daughter in chains.

"I'm sorry." Shining Armor had said weakly. "I'm so sorry..."

"Twilight Sparkle..." Celestia said, taking a sip of tea. She disliked tea, so since she was willingly drinking it, I knew something had gone wrong somewhere. She threw her empty cup to the floor and smashed it under her powerful hoof. "I am not happy."

And it all went downhill from there.

Celestia explained there was a prophecy. A prophecy that one day, a Mare With Two Mothers would overthrow and undo all her hard work.

Celestia was certain it was referring to my daughter, Lucky Swirl, borne of a magical discharge that occurred while Diane and I were...ahem.

She threw me, Lucky, Diane, Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, Applejack, and Rarity all into the royal dungeons of her castle. There, we discussed what was happening. Rarity and Rainbow Dash mentioned they had a group lovemaking session with the aforementioned Succubus Fluttershy, and they both really wanted and really didn't want to do it again.

There's something I forget to mention...over the last few days, my friends and I had all been experiencing a weird sensation of hooks reaching out from one of us to the other five and tugging at our very souls.

Applejack was beginning to stress out over the fact she was locked in a dungeon, away from Apple Bloom and Big Macintosh. Applejack was particularly worried Apple Bloom was going to grow up soon and find a stallion, start the next generation of Apples...

No big sister wants to see her little sibling grow up, so Applejack had been around town, looking for a colt to have a son with before Apple Bloom grew up. That was how we found about the Fluttershy being a Succubus thing. So Fluttershy volunterred to give Applejack a kiss to sooth her nerves. Applejack was so jittery and shaky we all encouraged it. Unfortunately, Fluttershy got carried away (not the first time, according to Applejack) and tried to suck out Applejack's soul...which caused that sensation of chains to run through us again.

Celestia came down to the dungeons, screaming bloody murder, a weird gray fluid coming from her eyes. It was horrifying to see my beloved mentor...bleeding like that. She demanded to know what was happening. When we explained about Fluttershy being a Succubus, she seemed relieved, like she finally knew a dark secret.

She left, saying she needed to think. My brother, Shining Armor came down and started to explain something.

Chrysalis, the Queen of the Changelings, who had submitted to Celestia and her rule after – let's not beat around the bush- after Celestia brought Chrysalis in for a bedroom session of their own. Afterward, Celestia brought all the Changelings as a official citizens, and I even started to create 'Love Banks' for happy families and couples to donate their love energies into to feed the Changelings. I let Chrysalis be Lucky Swirl's foalsitter.

But I asked Spike to keep an eye on 'Chrissy'. I never fully trusted her. And I suppose that means what happened next was my fault.

They broke up. Chrissy and Celly, of the famous sitcom, broke up. Chrysalis was a creature of opportunity, and a better opportunity had come up. Nopony knew what it was, or who was involved, but with it, and the fact that even now, after all this time, I still didn't trust her, was enough for Chrysalis to break things off and go on her own way. Celestia had taken it badly.

Very badly.

So that was at least part of the reason she was so unhinged and unhappy.

Celestia later came down to visit, and I repeated what Shining told us and my conclusions about Celestia taking her anger at Chrysalis leaving out on us.

Seeing reason, Celestia let us all out of the cages, dropping all charges. I asked for Lucky Swirl to be released as well. Celestia said she couldn't do that. While I was right about the fact she was taking her rage out on us, she had a good reason to keep my daughter locked up. The prophecy involving A Mare With Two Mothers said the Mare (in this case, Lucky) would 'ruin everything (Celestia) had done to make Equestria a peaceful and loving place.'

I grunted, trying to hide my internal frustation. The Princess wouldn't do anything without a good reason, right?

I didn't know it then, but that moment was my start of darkness.

Celestia's own mother, believe it or not, showed up soon. A Mare of Diomedes, a member of quintuplets, named Essomedi, (that's Celestia's mother's name). She was a Princess Pony, with horns and a wing. She looked just like Celestia, but taller, and with a more wrinkled face. Her mane and tail were also entirely yellowish gold. Essomedi had this magical aura about her that just kinda...forced you to relax and forgive everypony in the room.

The other Mares were sisters Essomedi, named Midodese, the very first pegaus, light blue with reddish brown hair and again, looking very similar to Celestia. The first unicorn, meanwhile, was actually rather Changeling-like in appearance, named Dideseo, actually created the Changeling race, modeling them after herself. And she had an affair with a dragon. And somewhere down the line, that meant Scootaloo was herself a half-dragon who was Celestia's great-niece. Somehow. That's actually one of the least disturbing things I learned about how much Celestia was hiding from me.

The last one was the first earth pony, crimson red with a baby blue long mane. Like a big, female, wingless Alicorn version of Big Macintosh. Her name was Sedimoed.

Anyways, I... I went home and came with Pinkie's party cannon, modified to shoot fireworks, and blew up a Canterlot building. I took up a megaphone and told the Princess I had gone out of my way to make sure nopony was inside the building when it blew. I warned her I wouldn't be so extra-careful next time.

Essomedi warned Celestia that her student – me – would soon betray her if I didn't get my foal back soon. Celestia retorted that my sense of logic would keep me in check and prevent me from doing anything I would really regret. Essomedi told her – flat out, straight up told her daughter – that she was a fool, and should recognize her own feelings for me as warning to what a mother would do for her child.

Thankfully, Celestia came to her senses and let Lucky Swirl out...on a few conditions. Namely, that Lucky Swirl would go and investigate the Nightmare Coalition and their recent activities.

The Nightmare Coalition are a cult who think Celestia is a poor ruler, and that Luna would be better for Equestria if she ruled alone.

They were mostly harmless, just a little delusional, but lately, they had been increasing their activities and doing a whole lot more, and frankly, it was worrying her.

Two birds with one stone. Celestia could get an agent investigating the Coalition, and let out my daughter for me while keeping the Mare With Two Mothers she was so fearful on a leash, under her control.

Lucky actually did fairly well for a child investigator. She confronted the lower-ranking grunts of the Coalition on more than a few occasions, found they were collecting supplies, and but for what? She found when she got to their hideout and confronted their new leader, who had apparently been given control of the group as the old one was too old to carry any half-baked ideas of Luna as one true princess.

When she told me about it, I was so proud. My daughter had discovered the base of a cult and had gone on to confront their mastermind, even!

And then it turned the new leader was Vivian.

You know, Vivian, the transfer student that looks like Daring Do that Lucky Swirl full in young love with at first sight? Yeah.

Vivian was even acting under instructions from Luna herself. Luna had actually been in contact with the Coalition. Oh, she never had any plans for them, certainly wasn't thinking of entertaining their crazy fantasies of having only her for a ruler. Just showing up every now and then so they could feel special. But she was giving Vivian instructions for _something_.

Vivian warned Lucky not to interfere. Taking after both my and Diane, of course, that became Lucky's sole goal. To interfere.

Lucky followed Vivian all the way to a graveyard. Lucky's first concern was of course, a zombie army. Same conclusion I would have made, despite my usual skepticism of zombies. Anything seemed possible at this point.

Vivian stood at a grave. (At least, that's how Lucky told it to me.) Shaking a hoof full of green powder like Zecora used. Lucky tackled her to the ground, and...Vivian burst into tears.

Lucky was so confused.

Vivian asked Lucky, "I just want my mother back. Is that so wrong?"

Lucky turned her head, and saw the tombstone of the grave Vivian was casting her ceremony on. It read...

Here Lies Doctor Vivian Vaccine the III.

Lucky said she would never forgot the hurt in Vivian's voice when Vivian said,

"I'm Vivian Vaccine the IV."

So Lucky agreed to help Vivian get her mother back from the grave.

It didn't so well. When they tried, Lord Hades, a chalky-looking pony, appeared and asked what they could give in exchange for Vivian's mother. Everything Vivian had to offer wasn't good enough, and Lucky had the sense not to volunteer me or Diane, but she promised she would help Vivian get her mother back.

Celestia threw Lucky back in jail for 'conspiring with the enemy'.

It took me awhile to get used to it, but I realized that if I kept up on the path I was on, nothing of Equestria would be left.

Celestia later called me to her office. She said I'd be forgiven of all crimes I had gone to engage a new enemy that appeared recently. However, then she said something that really worried me.

This new enemy apparently had their own version of the Elements of Harmony, so in order to counteract it, me, my friends and Spike would have to become representatives of the Seven Deadly Sins in order to beat them. Our own Elements were corrupted, and a new one was falsified for Spike entirely for this task. I, being the leader and Celestia's student, got to be Pride, Rarity, Envy, Rainbow Dash, Sloth, Pinkie, Gluttony, Spike, Lust, and Applejack, Wrath.

We raced to a bridge and found out something I found entirely too horrible to be true.

This new enemy was out Alter Selves. That was how they had their own Elements. Silver and dark mirrors of our own. Alter Fluttershy's was shaped in a scorpion as a counter to Fluttershy's butterfly and that sort of thing.

We blasted our Elements at each other, and we were too evenly matched. We disengaged and took each other head-to-head. Alter Me took the opportunity to warn me that while she really appreciated what I had done for her, that wasn't going to stop her from taking my world over. I snarled I wasn't going to let that happen.

And then the bridge blew up underneath us and took us all straight to Hades' realm.

I'm not even exaggerating.

I don't know how the bridge collapsed, but the first thing I did was rush to to Lord Hades. I had heard and read many stories of ponies making deals with Hades to get back their loved ones, and it not working out as planned, so my first priority was getting to him and beseeching him to ban any of my loved ones from doing so. He accepted, but I would to give something in exchange for him changing the rules for me. After some haggling, we settled on spinning hay into gold, like in Rumplestiltskin...

Except I had no idea how to do that.

I tried, thought. Fruitlessly. Until Lucky Swirl and Vivian came down, intent on doing exactly what I was trying to keep Lucky from doing. Hades honored the terms of our arrangement and wouldn't let them offer anything in exchange for me, even though Lucky was willing to offer her own soul, and a child's soul is a valuable thing in Erebus...

Lucky turned and left, disappointed with the failure of her plan.

Then Luna came down, somehow got me and my friends released, and explained everything.

Lucky and Vivian, this time both working for Luna, had rigged the bridge to blow, killing me and my friends and severing the metaphysical 'chains' binding us into Celestia's indentured servitude. Luna explained that when she was still the Mare In the Moon, she had kept watch over Cadence to guide her through the turmoils of life. When Cadence had been pressed for a job in her foalsitting duties (as she came fresh off foalsitting spoiled brat after spoiled brat...) Luna sent a message to Celesita through a comet with my name written on it, suggesting me for Cadence's next job.

Celestia took the opportunity and sent Cadence to foalsit me, and from there, she guided my direction in life and everything I did afterward.

In other words, the kindly, caring Princess I had loved and trusted had actually been manipulating things behind the scenes to control me since I was the age of five.

The words of Alter Me rang in my ears.

"Let's see you discover everything you were taught since childhood was a lie, and see how sane _you_ stay."

Needlessly to say, I didn't, actually. When Luna got us out of Erebus, the first thing I did was confront the Princess. She told me everything. About the Gray Sisters – the other Mares of Disomedes – who had made a deal with the draconequus with to keep Equestria safe and sound. Everything I had done with my friends had been preordained. Discord coming loose? Preordained. Us beating Discord back into stone? Preordained. My nearly losing everything I loved, when I was right, at my brother's wedding?

Preordained.

And I remembered what Celestia said to me. She said "You have a lot to think about." knowing that it was preordained that I would embarrass myself. She knew it would happen. She knew everything would turn out all right, and that was she told me.

I couldn't take it. That fact alone drove me past whatever scrap of sanity I had left. That fact she said that, knowing what was to happen, what was about to happen...

I told her I wasn't her student anymore and left, even as she tried to explain about Regress- apparently something Chrysalis became when Celestia took the Changeling Queen in. A Regress was something that fulfilled the role the future-seeing Gray Sisters had assigned to it. Chrysalis filled her role in my brother's wedding, so Celestia wasn't to have anything more to do with her, so she was in trouble for that.

I didn't care. I had one thing on my mind; everything I knew about Equestria was a lie. A dirty lie perpetuated by the Princess so she could live out her delusions of a world without sin.

That was the feeling I had gotten when looking at Alter Me. Alter Me was all the sins and flaws and vices I would've had when I was born, except Celestia had the Gray Sisters used their magic to keep any 'Sin' out of Equestria.

I shuddered when I realized that Discord and Chrysalis had been in an Equestria without sin.

I told my friends everything Celestia had confessed to me, and they agreed to help me in my insanity. In my madness...

In my underground war against the Princess.

I knew it wouldn't end well, so I sought an old crone by the name of Megan who lived on the fringes of Equestria and wrested from her the recipe to create a monster I had read about once, and up until now, had never wanted to read about again.

The Smooze.

Megan asked, Megan asked me "Are you sure this is the right thing to do, considering your child?"

I said yes without hesitating.

I gave Lucky Swirl the recipe for the Smooze and instructed her to follow its directions in the event Celestia captured me, which I knew she would eventually. She caught me, as I knew she would, and threw me in a dungeon, where I had to deal with Cadence taunting me every day and night. Magic was seeping from the ground in my head, trying to make me forget my memories of my friends, of what I learned, but one day, Cadence went too far. She referred to Pinkie as Diane.

_Nopony gets to call her that but me. _

I was somehow able to focus my rage into my hooves and tore free of the wall, the chain still hanging around my hooves. I started beating Cadence, the pony I had admired most, next to Celestia, with my bare hooves. I wasn't going to be content until she bled. I think I might have even beaten her to death if Celestia had entered the room personally. Even though I was beating her niece down with my bare hooves, all she did was sigh and shake her head.

She asked me to explain in my own words, "How we got here", so I did.

She nodded, taking in every detail of my account of things- the same account I'm telling you now. When it was all said and done, we heard a thunderous clap.

It was at this point I told her my plan about the Smooze.

Amazingly, Celestia's military forces were able to beat back the Smooze. After they did, Celestia returned to me in the dungeon and said she'd give me one last chance.

A rare celestial event was upon us, though. A valley of leaves that Essomedi was in charge of protecting. Around every 200 years, the leaves would move and reveal a waterfall. A waterfall that could let ponies travel back in time. Celestia said I could go through and fix my mistakes. (My mistakes? What about yours, Princess?)

She brought me there, where the waterfall mesmerized me. Celestia was about to nudge me through when Essomedi appeared and asked me an armor piercing question.

Would I do anything differently?

And I found, upon reflection, no, no I wouldn't.

Celestia didn't like that. She charged at me, the intent to kill clearly in her eyes. Essomedi stopped her and started to scold her daughter, but Celestia responded with a slap to Essomedi's face.

It was right there I realized Celestia was so far gone in her illusion of control she would do anything to keep it going. She attacked her own mother. And not a distance, serving under a higher power like Lucky was with Luna, Celestia had the gall to straight up, flat out charge at her mother.

Essomedi told me to run to safety, and I did. I ran to Canterlot.

I'm not sure what happened, but Celestia quickly appeared in the sky behind me, screaming my name and cursing my blood. A crowd gathered around.

I yelled at them all of Celestia's lies, deceit, and manipulations of me. Celestia just stood there as I laid out condemnation after condemnation. When I was there, the crowd was shocked that I, was the Princess' Most Faithful Student, would say such things.

When the horrified crowd turned to her, Celestia said nothing. The floodgates had been opened. Even if she killed me now, ponies would start whispering, and they would start getting suspicious. Knowing her reputation was ruined, Celestia turned around and ran into the night, never to be seen again.

The Nightmare Coalition got their wish. Only Luna was left to rule us now.

And I...I was lost. I would never graduate from Celestia's teaching now...I would file another Friendship Report... Lucky asked me what would we do now. I wrapped my leg around her and told her the truth;

I honestly don't know.

Maybe we'll leave Equestria. Start new lives. Go where nopony recognizes us. Maybe I could be Luna's student instead. Or the new Captain of the Guard...who knows what the future holds now, now that Celestia is gone?

I miss you sometimes, Princess. The old you. The one that I trusted.

Take a note, whoever is reading this now; this is my suicide letter, explaining everything that lead to my eventual killing of myself. Pinkie Pie said she'd join me. And this time, we'd stay dead and keep our family happy and fed in Erebus.

But that won't be for awhile...I want to let Lucky Swirl have a good life first...so I'll file this away for now, and then bring it back out when I'm ready to die.

I'm not sure how long that' will be...perhaps a few days...perhaps several years...perhaps never. Perhaps I'll find something that will make my life make sense again.

...And that, Princess...is how we got here...

_Sniff._

* * *

**Author's Notes and Credits**

**The separated souls from the Rainboom keeping Celestia alive is from a fic called 'My Princess'.**

**Celestia lying and keeping another world secret from anypony is taken from "Upheaval."**

**There's also the less specific-themes of Celestia lying to and manipulating Twilight, and being desperate to keep her illusion of perfection going no matter what.**

**Scootaloo being Celestia's niece is taken from this one story where Celestia is Scootaloo's mother, which I haven't read and don't remember the title, but wish I did.**

**I also lost a few plot points in this abbreviation of events. Twilight's mother, feeling guilty about what happened to Twilight, would find Alter-Twilight's Mother and they would merge their into perfect being of Sin and Harmony, prompting Twilight's realization the prophecy was talking about _her_, not Lucky. There was also a spot where Twilight completely lost her memories and was living in Celestia's house for a while, Celestia re-training her to be a subservient slave again...which was ruined when Twilight had a sudden fit of memories and cut 'Diane' into her leg. Celestia observed it, and was so angered by it that she restored Twilight's memories, figuring that if Twilight remembered that much, she'd remember everything on her own anyways...  
**

**Oh, and Tirac would be Cadence's uncle, continuing the theme of the Royal Family actually been so messed up. **

**Speaking of that, making Cadence Blueblood's mother? SOOOO STUPID. **

**I'd like to note two things;**

**This story is motivated entirely by my hatred of A Canterlot Wedding. I wanted to be done with that piece of baggage before I want to College, so that's why I cut this short.**

**There's also that whole Twilight-becoming-an-Alicorn followed by Equestria Girls... It seems like the show writers are just copying fanfic now (see "Keep Calm and Flutter On" for where it started). Which, you know, is contradictory to the fact that one of the things that made FiM so popular was its _originality._**

**And I had...sort of taken Celestia's "You have a lot think about" line in A Canterlot Wedding as a Jossing. My interpretation of it was that "NO WAY is Celestia gonna let Twilight become an Alicorn after that!" ... and then she did.  
**

**The apple bucking writers. AGH.**

**Well, what more can I say? I'm glad this story is over, I'm not sorry at all for truncation of it, as it was causing me _mental health_ problems, and My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic has Jumped The Shark so bad it's not even funny anymore.**

**You know Transformers Prime is getting canceled, even though it hasn't done anything wrong enough to match the scale of Twlight becoming an Alicorn, yet, Friendship is Magic is getting a Season 4?**

**No justice what so ever.**


End file.
